Donald Whitaker became the fourth member of his famous family to lift the iconic Agria King George V Gold Cup today at Hickstead, after heading an all-British podium.
Riding the grey mare Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky), Donald delivered a blisteringly-quick jump-off round to win the same title that cousin Robert Whitaker had won 12 months earlier. Once again Hickstead proved happy hunting ground for the Whitaker family dynasty, with John, 68, being part of the winning team in the Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain two days earlier.
John had been one of 10 riders to jump clear in the first round of this historic Grand Prix, but his hopes of landing a fourth King George were dashed in the jump-off when he knocked the first part of the combination at fence three. Brazil’s Luciana Lossio and Lady Louise Jmen delivered the first of the clear rounds, setting a very fast pace of 46.76sec.
Next into Hickstead’s International Arena was the reigning Olympic champion Ben Maher and Enjeu de Grisien (Toulon), who already has a King George title under his belt having won in 2013 with Tripple X II. The Herts-based rider took the tightest of lines to shave half a second of Luciana’s time, guaranteeing a British win.
But Donald’s 11-year-old mare had looked fast in the first round, and in the jump-off Donald really let loose with a relentless pace throughout, crossing the finish in 46.12sec, just 0.1 of a second quicker than Ben. Maher’s Nations Cup team mate Tim Gredley came in last in the jump-off, aboard Medoc de Toxandria (Der Senaat 111) with his Nations Cup Medoc Du Toxandria, and he looked like he was going to win only to take a pull before the last that left him fractionally behind Ben on 46.26sec.
Riding the grey mare Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky), Donald delivered a blisteringly-quick jump-off round to win the same title that cousin Robert Whitaker had won 12 months earlier. Once again Hickstead proved happy hunting ground for the Whitaker family dynasty, with John, 68, being part of the winning team in the Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain two days earlier.
John had been one of 10 riders to jump clear in the first round of this historic Grand Prix, but his hopes of landing a fourth King George were dashed in the jump-off when he knocked the first part of the combination at fence three. Brazil’s Luciana Lossio and Lady Louise Jmen delivered the first of the clear rounds, setting a very fast pace of 46.76sec.
Next into Hickstead’s International Arena was the reigning Olympic champion Ben Maher and Enjeu de Grisien (Toulon), who already has a King George title under his belt having won in 2013 with Tripple X II. The Herts-based rider took the tightest of lines to shave half a second of Luciana’s time, guaranteeing a British win.
But Donald’s 11-year-old mare had looked fast in the first round, and in the jump-off Donald really let loose with a relentless pace throughout, crossing the finish in 46.12sec, just 0.1 of a second quicker than Ben. Maher’s Nations Cup team mate Tim Gredley came in last in the jump-off, aboard Medoc de Toxandria (Der Senaat 111) with his Nations Cup Medoc Du Toxandria, and he looked like he was going to win only to take a pull before the last that left him fractionally behind Ben on 46.26sec.