Champions Retain Titles as Day Two at the British Showjumping National Championships Delivers Thrilling Competition
Thursday 06 August 2026
Day two brought a welcome spell of rain, albeit short-lived, along with more Championship success for Joe Trunkfield, Emma-Jo Slater and Emma Sargeant.
Fresh from victory on day one, Joe Trunkfield struck again in the Horse of the Year Show International Wild Card Qualifier Incorporating the National Speed Horse Final, taking the top spot aboard Darjeeling Desir, owned by Michael McKinley and produced by Daisy McKinley.
First to go, Charlotte Ash set a blistering pace, but Joe and Darjeeling Desir proved just too quick.
Joe said: "Great class, really fast class actually. Charlotte Ash first to go, did a blistering round - it was perfect and I think she had us all in the warmup thinking it was going to be really difficult to beat, and it really was."
He added: "He's a really quick horse, so I told myself to take a breath, jump the jumps and follow the canter I've got, which is naturally quick, and it paid off."
Emma Sargeant successfully defended her National 1.25m Restricted Rider Championship title aboard Whisper's Love, producing a lightning-fast jump-off to finish just 0.04 seconds ahead of Emma-Jo Slater and Kimba Luidun.
"She's an out-and-out winner really, she's only little, but she's a proper trier, and she always manages to pull a win out the bag for us," said Emma after the class.
With Emma-Jo Slater still to come, she knew there would be little room for error.
"I knew it would be a quick class, I'd got Emma-Jo behind me. I tried to leave everything out there, you know, I knew she would be quick and she very nearly caught me, it was a fast jump-off."
The National 1.15m Members Cup Championship attracted one of the largest fields of the day, with 89 starters reduced to 23 for the jump-off. Emma-Jo Slater once again came out on top aboard last year's winner, Kimba Time, successfully defending her title.
The victory marked Emma-Jo's third Championship title of 2026. She said: "I won this last year on her. I didn’t really expect to win it again this year, so it’s quite a surprise, but happy that we’ve regained my title again."
Describing Kimba Time, owned by Kim Barzilay, Emma-Jo added: "She always tries her heart out."
Stephanie Gunn and the home-bred Quarantino took the Ariat Senior British Novice Championship Final.
Describing the win, Stephanie said: "Surprising, I was really happy though, the horse jumped great, he did everything I asked of him."
"He's by my old stallion I used to ride that we sadly lost a few years ago, so he's quite a special horse to us, I’ve done everything with him myself, he's super consistent."
Adam Botham claimed the GFS Saddles Senior Newcomers Masters aboard Nixon IV, the stallion owned by Warwickshire Horse Boxes.
"He's a big unit to turn, you have a jump-off that suits him or a jump-off that doesn't."
He added: "He finds it very easy to do one less, so it worked out in my favour."
Describing the victory, Botham said: "It's great to win, my wife's won it twice, so at least I have one on the card now."
With Nixon IV already holding his HOYS qualification in the Senior Newcomers, Botham's attention now turns to securing a Foxhunter ticket.
The National 1.30m Championship produced one of the closest finishes of the day. Seventeen combinations returned for the jump-off, with just 1.62 seconds separating the top seven. Yasmin Davis and Zanbowa Z secured victory by just 0.9 seconds ahead of Georgina Ellis and Croisiere.
Reflecting on her long-standing partnership with Zanbowa Z, Yasmin said: "He’s a 17-year-old now, I’ve had him for around 11 years. He is one of my first horses. There is not really anything he hasn’t won nationally or internationally."
When asked about her tactics for the jump-off, she said: "Obviously I watched Angie and she’s always quick – just keep the turns tight really, I know he’s naturally careful and yeah he can turn tight. He jumped really, really well."
For the full list of results visit: https://members.britishshowjumping.co.uk/live/results
Images: 1st Class Images
.jpg "Ben Maher races to a five-star win in Dinard")
 - Libby Law Photography.jpg "Sophia Rogers lands double gold at the FEI Jumping European Championships for Ponies, adding the individual title to the Team Gold earned two days earlier with Neil 55")
