July 2015
EVENT ACTION: Bolesworth International CSI****
Robert Whitaker receives the award from
Edward Lea of Equerry Horse Feeds.
Robert Whitaker Wins Exciting
Equerry Competition at Bolesworth
International
B
ritish star Robert Whitaker
carried his blistering form
into day three of the Ashford
Farm CSI**** Bolesworth
International by winning anothe r
headline four-star class.
The 32-year-old Yorkshireman
followed up his victory with Catwalk
IV in Friday's (19th June) 1.55m
competition by collecting his second
successive £7,260 winner's purse,
landing the 1.45m jump-off class,
sponsored by Equerry Horse Feeds.
With Catwalk taking a breather
ahead of contesting Sunday's Redrow
Homes Grand Prix, Whitaker turned to
the tried and tested 14-year-old bay
stallion USA Today as his latest
Bolesworth challenger.
And he did not
disappoint, clocking 38.49
seconds to conquer a
tight, twisting jumpoff course that
generated mishaps
for several of the
18 combinations
that made it
through round
one.
Irish
contender
Captain Michael
Kelly finished
second on
Drumiller Lough,
just 17 hundredths
of a second behind
Whitaker, with
another Irish duo
- Edward Doyle and
Mullaghdrin Touch the
Stars - third, just in front of
Jade Burgess and Severly Hille.
"The first round was quite
tricky, but there were quite a few
clears, and I had a good draw in the
jump-off, which helped," said Whitaker,
whose run of recent successes will
10
undoubtedly keep him firmly on the
Great Britain selection radar ahead
of the European Championships in
Germany later this summer.
"If you are first to go in a jumpoff when there are so many clears, it's
difficult. It just worked out well for me,
really.
"There weren't too many clears in
the jump-off - they were having a lot of
faults everywhere - and it was taking a
bit of jumping.
"I didn't
make
a plan to go as quickly as I did, it just
sort of worked out well. I can't complain.
"I think it suited him out there today.
There were a lot of tight turns, like from
fence one to two, and he is so careful. He
didn't play around, like he can do.
"He's 14 now, but he is really fit
and healthy and has been second in
good classes at St Gallen and Windsor
recently."
Everything Horse Magazine • Issue 22 • July 2015
July 2015 • Issue 22 • Everything Horse Magazine
11