Speed King Guy Williams takes Stoner Vase with new ride
Friday 21 June 2024
.jpg "Speed King Guy Williams takes Stoner Vase with new ride")
Yorkshire’s Guy Williams is no stranger to finding himself on top of the leaderboard at the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting. Today in the Stoner Jewellers Vase CSI4*, the first of this week’s international classes, Guy once again secured the win.
The victory came courtesy of the 12-year-old mare Hanne Umonia, who he has had the ride on for less than a month.
“I’ve had her a couple of weeks and she's been knocking on the door a little bit,” said Guy, who took over the ride from Germany’s Daniel Lahmann. “She jumped really well, and I’m very pleased with her.”
Hanne Umonia has already proven to be an impressive stamp of a competition horse. Today, she topped a class of 69 horses and riders with her time of 58.88 seconds.
“I rode her at Bolesworth a couple of weeks ago and jumped a Grand Prix. She had a fence, as she probably wasn’t fit enough – she had the last fence a couple of times that week, actually. So all I’ve done is try to work on her fitness. Today really suited her – [the course] kept turning back a bit. I think she’ll be a really useful horse in the years to come.”
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
