Jessica Hewitt hits the jackpot in her final Evoke Under 25 British Showjumping Championship at the London International Horse Show
Thursday 19 December 2024
It was her last chance, but a determined Jessica Hewitt lifted the Evoke Under 25 British Showjumping Championship title with Sonny Broberg’s Arbitrage at the London International Horse Show in the ExCeL Arena.
“She has been an amazing horse for me, especially this past year, I can hardly believe she’s won this and that sadly, I’ll be too old for this class next year,” said Jessica.
As it was her swansong in the Under 25, Jessica gave it her best shot. Twenty-two elite under 25 young riders came forward over a 12-fence 1.45m track set by renowned course-designer Bernardo Costa Cabral (POR) with questions asked at the combination, vertical to oxer double and committed distances. A confident eight competitors came up with all the correct answers to make their way into the jump-off.
“It was a nice flowing course, there wasn’t any bad lines and not one fence was the bogey, the fences that fell were random,” said Jessica.
Nerves, focus and their trust in the horse were tested from the off as a long gallop the length of the arena from the first fence, formerly the first element of the combination to an oxer. A crucial rollback inside turn from the double to a midway vertical and another gallop to the final vertical finalised the risk assessment – the pressure was on.
Charlotte Ash got the ball rolling to set the target on Irma Riende but dropped to an eventual fourth as the top three all came from the latter stages. Drawn two from the end, Jssica didn’t hesitate and set off at pace with the trustworthy, ultra-careful Arbitrage, winner of the Arena UK Winter Classic Grand Prix a little over two weeks ago. The same approach to the last fence sealed the deal and Jessica flew into the top spot. But there was still two to go.
“I honestly thought I’d used my luck up with second in the Kelsall Hill Winter Grand Prix and winning at Arena UK, but she pulled it out of the bag again,” said a delighted Jessica, who aims to start at a quick pace and maintain the rhythm as her best tactic on this mare.
“I didn’t manage to take one less stride between one and two, but I was still forward and could trust her to gallop at the double as she’s so careful. On the following turn to the vertical, I went a little wider to keep my pace, and again trusted her down to the final fence.”
Fresh from her Puissance success on Easy Boy De Laubry Z, Rachel Proudley chased hard on Quality Street but was just shy of Jessica’s time by 0.44 seconds to take second place with third going to Jennifer Billington aboard Flipper Darco UK Z.
Jessica first got together with the Vitaal G x Rufus 12-year-old two and a half years ago while the mare was still in Foxhunter, taking time to get to know each other.
“I’ve put a lot of work into her but it’s only this year she’s really begun to trust me. Now she’s stepped up to be my best horse,” said Jessica.
Image: London International Horse Show/Peter Nixon
