Spectacular Championship Showjumping Brings a Close to HOYS 2015
Sunday 11 October 2015
.jpg "Spectacular Championship Showjumping Brings a Close to HOYS 2015")
Irish star Billy Twomey hit top form to take the Leading Showjumper of the Year grand prix on the final night of the Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham.
Riders work throughout the entire year to qualify for the coveted places at Horse of the Year Show, and today saw the best of the best recognised.
Twomey, who is based in Nottinghamshire, delivered two immaculate clear rounds on Terry Payne's 12 year-old bay gelding Diaghilev to deny Frenchman Julian Epaillard a successful title defense.
Twomey's jump-off time of 32.31 seconds was enough to land the £13,200 top prize, completing a title treble in this class after he triumphed in 2008 and 2013.
Epaillard was second on Cristallo A LM, while this year's Bolesworth International Grand Prix winner Yazmin Pinchen took third on her mother Nancy's 12 year-old liver chestnut stallion Van de Vivaldi, with Colombia's Daniel Bluman fourth on Conconcreto Apardi.
"I am absolutely delighted," Twomey said.
"This week has been brilliant, and it is nice to top it off with a grand prix win.
"The horses have come into form, and hopefully, I can continue to kick on from this result.
"Horse of the Year Show is one of my favourite shows. The crowds here really get behind the runners, which helps make it so enjoyable."
Preston showjumper Nigel Coupe turned back the clock 27 years when he landed the Vinopolis Speed Horse of the Year title.
Riding John O'Halloran's 11 year-old chestnut mare Jubilee III, Coupe made light work of an early draw to win a £3,300 prize by just 15 hundredths of a second from William Whitaker, riding Balibu, a 10 year-old chestnut gelding owned by Michael Whitaker, with another British rider - Yazmin Pinchen - third aboard her mother Nancy's 12 year-old bay mare Ashkari and John Whitaker fourth with Prince Sultan Saud's 11 year-old brown gelding Lord of Arabia.
The top four combinations were separated by just 61 hundredths of a second as the speed class once again thrilled a bumper audience.
"I think I was 18 when I won this class previously, and that was when the show was held at Wembley," said Coupe, who is based at Salmesbury, near Preston.
"I am absolutely delighted. When you are drawn early and go into the lead, you always expect to be shot at, but today they kept having fences down.
"I watched the rest of the class on the TV monitor. Having an early draw, if it goes well, it can sometimes help you put the pressure on, and it worked out for me today.
"Any time you win an international class is great, but to win the speed championship here at HOYS is fantastic."
Oxfordshire rider Clark Glasgow, meanwhile, prescribed himself the perfect tonic as he claimed an impressive victory in The Thistledown Stakes.
It was Glasgow's first - and last - visit to HOYS before he continues his medical studies at Cambridge, and he could not have bowed out on a higher note.
Riding his own 13 year-old bay gelding Corlando of Cavallini, he triumphed in the two-phase speed class after clocking a jump-off time of 39.94 seconds.
It was enough to edge experienced Irish campaigner Trevor Breen, riding his own 11 year-old chestnut stallion Oldtown KC, into second place, with John Whitaker third aboard Team Harmony's 20 year-old grey gelding Echo of Light.
"I am over the moon. Just being able to compete here is a dream come true, so anything top of that is a bonus," Glasgow said.
"I disappeared into the warm-up arena after I jumped. I knew someone could beat me, but it worked out for me today.
"I have had the horse going on for six years, and he really has taught me the ropes, but to win here is very special."
And Grantham's Joe Clayton produced a stylish performance to win the Speedi-Beet Grade C Championship.
Riding Millioninmind, an eight-year-old bay gelding owned by Steven Barnes, Clayton saw off a challenge from his cousin and British Nations Cup rider William Whitaker.
Clayton's jump-off time of 37.69 seconds edged out Whitaker by just over a second. Whitaker finished runner-up on Sport Horse Centre Stud and Emilie Machon's 8 year-old bay gelding C'Est Seppel and third with Neil Fiddes' 7 year-old chestnut gelding Dublin V, while Annabel Shields was fourth aboard Robert Shields' 6 year-old bay gelding ABC Quantum Cruise.
The competition is for horses that are Grade C at qualifying, and is often used by top riders to bring on horses which they feel have the potential to become a top Grade A horse.
"It is a very good win. The horse jumped fantastically," Clayton said.
"He is a very cheeky horse. He's quite nervy, but brave at the same time. All the classes at the Horse of the Year show are hard to win, and when you win one, it feels very special."
Audio link to Joe Clayton winner of the Speedi-Beet Grade C Championship
Audio link to Billy Twomey winner of the Leading Showjumper of the Year
Audio link to Clark Glasgow winner of the Thistledown Stakes
Audio link to Joe Clayton winner of the Speedi-Beet Grade C Championship
Photo Credit: LewisHarding Photography
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