Jude Burgess Triumphs at Hickstead: Leestone Nicholas Shines in Six-Year-Old Championships Victory
Saturday 22 June 2024
.jpg "Jude Burgess Triumphs at Hickstead: Leestone Nicholas Shines in Six-Year-Old Championships Victory")
Goudhurst showjumper Jude Burgess took top honours in this morning’s Billy Stud Auction British Six-Year-Old Jumping Championship at the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting, riding long-time partner Leestone Nicolas.
Jude has kept Leestone Nicolas in his string since acquiring the gelding as a two-year-old. “I really love this horse,” he admitted. “He’s lovely. We bought him as a two-year-old from Ireland, and he's been kind of a slow grower but he's so clever, and so careful. You can gallop at the jumps, and he’s so intelligent, so he's lovely to ride. I’m really excited about him.”
Leestone Nicolas has had a fairly quiet season so far. “We won a couple of nice classes this year, but we haven't really jumped him that much. Whenever he goes out, though, he does the job.”
Today’s tough, competitive class gave Leestone Nicolas the chance to step up from talented youngster to serious competitor, which he did in fine style, winning the two-phase competition in a time of 32.33sec.
“It was a really fast class, so it was it was quite difficult to win,” said Jude. “It was really about taking strides out on the lines – like, I did seven strides to the green double, which needed a horse with quite a big stride to do that. Then down the hill afterwards I did eight strides. It’s kind of a short course, so if you did one extra stride anywhere or one extra pull, then you're going to be further down the line. It was one of those courses where just everything came off for us.”
Jude has given Leestone Nicolas great foundations at the Spanish Sunshine Tour – but Hickstead, he explained, offers a step up in atmosphere and pressure, and a next-level education for future stars.
“Some of them kind of grow in the main arena and really like the atmosphere, and some of them take a few rounds to get used to it,” he said. “My other ride in this class, Starcent, is normally the faster one, but she was looking at the water today, so it can take a few rounds in there. But his character, his intelligence really shows – you can go into any environment and he does the job.”
The Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting runs from 20-23 June at Hickstead in West Sussex. Tickets are available at the gate or can be booked online at www.hickstead.co.uk. All the action from the International Arena will be livestreamed on ClipMyHorse.TV and Hickstead.TV.
Image credit: Boots and Hooves Photography
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