Guy Williams and Phillip Miller take top two places in Spain
Sunday 22 March 2015
It was a huge field of sixty combinations that declared for the final Grand Prix of the Sunshine Tour in Spain this afternoon. With the showground having endured extremely heavy rainfall at the end of last week to the point of it stopping play, it was great to see the final day enjoy periods of sunshine and the grass arenas dried out enough to offer decent going for those coming forward.
A dozen of the starting combinations managed to achieve a clear in the first round, but only a third of them went on to jump clear again; two of which were competing under the union flag in the form of Guy Williams and Phillip Miller.
It was Guy with Di and Pennie Cornish's 9 year-old bay gelding Basic that jumped the fastest clear in a time of 42.48 seconds to claim the class as his own. Hot on his heels though was Phillip partnering Caritiar Z a 15 year-old grey gelding also owned by Di and Pennie Cornish along with Nigel Eccles who stopped the clock in 43.60 seconds which was enough to claim 2nd place ahead of Irish rider Alex Duffy and Wrangler who took 3rd place. 4th place went to the last of the double clears who finished in a time of 45.64 seconds, namely Domonique Joassin and Best of Opus Dei Z.
For Phillip, the results would have been particularly poignant as not only has he produced Caritiar Z since a relative novice enjoying some high profile wins including the Hickstead Derby in 2013, but he also produced Basic by competing him through the British Showjumping age classes before introducing him to international competition.
A further FEI ranking class win was secured for GB by Alicia Smallman when she jumped the fastest double clear of the competition in the Ladies Class Tour Grand Prix. With the show drawing to a close today, the majority of riders will now be making their long journey home in preparation for the outdoor county show season and the 2015 International Stairway series.