Nick Skelton & Big Star 2nd in Toronto $75k Big Ben Challenge
Monday 14 November 2016
The final class of the CSI 5* Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto on Saturday evening saw Rio 2016 Individual Gold medallists Nick Skelton and Big Star, owned by Gary & Beverley Widdowson, take 2nd place in the Big Ben Challenge 1.60m jump-off class with its $75,000 prize fund.
From a field of twenty one starters, it was just a third of the field that jumped clear with only four of them going on to produce another clear in the second round. Kent Farrington with Creedance, last to go in the jump-off, pulled the cat out of the bag when he stopped the clock in 31.86 seconds to secure 1st place. Nick with the incredible 13 year-old bay stallion Big Star were the third to last combination to come forward in the jump off and had looked unbeatable when they broke the finish line in 33.55 seconds. However, having seen Nick deliver what looked to have been the winning round Kent decided to gamble all and twisted round the course in death defying fashion to shave almost 2 seconds off Nick’s time and secure the win.
Home rider Ian Millar and Dixson along with Mac Cone and Gasper van den Doorn kept Canada high in the running by taking 3rd and 4th place respectively jumping the only two other double clears albeit in a slightly slower time.
For full results visit http://bit.ly/2fqeHf2
.JPG "NAF Extend Support of British Showjumping’s Silver and Bronze Leagues for a Further Three Years")
3qoipwoh06ud.jpg "Reminder: New Tack and Equipment Rules from the 1st April")