JOHN WHITAKER AND ARGENTO MASTER HONG KONG
Monday 16 February 2015
Brits dominated the Longines Hong Kong Masters over the weekend with John Whitaker topping both major Grand Prix’s. This prestigious and impressive five-star international event is now in its third year and is the largest show of its kind in Asia.
The Longines Hong Kong Masters is also the Asian leg of the Masters Grand Slam Series, which now crosses three continents including Europe (Paris) and America (Los Angeles), offering a considerable €1million to the winning rider should they manage to win all three Grand Prix’s, €500k should they win two consecutively or €250k should they win two of the three.
British lead the way on Saturday
Saturday, Valentine's Day, saw John win the Gucci Gold Cup with his own and wife Clare’s 13 year-old British Bred stallion Argento. The class had been an incredibly hard fought one but it was John with his clear in a time of 40.70 seconds that secured him first place and the main share of the €74,800 prize fund on offer.
The class not only proved a great one for John, but also a brilliant showcase for Great Britain with the Union Flag flying for each of the top three placings. Jessica Mendoza, a UK Sport funded World Class Rider, took second place in a time of 41.32 seconds behind John with the 14 year-old Spirit T, another British Bred horse whom is jointly owned by John Roberts and Jessica’s mother Sarah. This was a superb result for Jessica, who won a Team Gold and Individual Bronze at the Junior European Championships in Arezzo last year with Spirit T and has gone from strength to strength at a senior level to posting this result against many of the best riders in the world.
Third place went to Scott Brash with Hello Annie, an 11-year old bay mare owned by Lady Pauline Kirkham and Lady Pauline Harris. Just a fraction of a slower than Jessica, they stopped the clock in a time of 41.46 seconds ahead of Simon Delestre for France who was the only other rider to break the 42 second mark.
Sunday’s €620,000 Grand Prix
With such an enormous prize fund at stake, the arena was not only packed with just standing room left but it was also incredibly tense. The field of twenty six riders was an impressive one with the majority of the top FEI ranked riders coming forward to content the title and the lion share of the prize fund that went with it.
It was thirteen riders that went clear in the first round of the 1.60m competition but once again, John and Argento were absolutely unbeatable. John, who has produced Argento since a relative novice, has always spoken with open admiration about this stallion's talent and limitless scope; something that was evident for all to see with the performances he put in over the weekend. In an absolute league of their own, their foot-perfect performance saw them stop the clock 74/100’th's of second faster than Henrik von Eckermann for Sweden with Gotha FRH.
For full results click here http://eventcontent.hippoonline.de/988/988zeitplanDEU.htm?style=longines and for information about the event http://www.mastersgrandslam.com/en/longines_hong_kong_masters/press/press_review
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