John Whitaker crowned Leading Rider at Basel following Grand Prix placing
Monday 16 January 2017
It was a fantastic show at Basel for John Whitaker when he was awarded Leading Rider at the Longines CSI5* show in Basel over the weekend. Winning on a total of 897 points, he took the lead over Pius Schwizer who finished on 889 points.
The final day had seen John with Team Harmony’s tremendous mare Ornellaia finish in 2nd place behind Niels Bruynseels mare Gancia de Muze in the 1.60m Longines Grand Prix of Basel. It was less than a second that separated the top three riders, who all jumped double clear, with Edwina Tops-Alexander taking 3rd place.
Michael Whitaker with the 15 year-old gelding Viking finished 2nd on Thursday in the 1.50m Prize of Bank J Safra Sarasin AG competition with a double clear in 54.53 seconds, just a quarter of second behind Hans-Dieter Dreher for Germany with Cool and Easy who took the top spot. John and Ornellaia also finished in the line-up in 6th place with their double clear of 56.44 seconds.
Friday had also seen John and Ornellaia appear in the line-up with a 6th place finish in the Golden Drum of Basel 1.55 class.
