Pippa Allen wins the Under 25's Grand Prix in Liverpool
Sunday 03 January 2016
The Allen sisters did it style on day three of the Equestrian.com Liverpool International Horse Show as they starred in a thrilling Under-25 final.
The class, sponsored by Gaskells Waste, went right down to the wire in a puslating jump-off as last-to-go Pippa Allen, riding Hope Springs, clipped two hundredths of a second off her sister Millie's time to triumph.
Millie looked to have done enough on Balou Star, clocking a time of 29.56 seconds, but 22-year-old Pippa had other ideas as she claimed a superb victory in high-class company.
Harry Charles, son of Great Britain star and London 2012 Olympics team gold medallist Peter Charles, was third on Peter's Vivaldi Du Dom, with Kerry Brennan - 2014 British Under-23 champion at Olympia - finishing fourth aboard Wellington M.
"I was over the moon to jump clear in a ring like that, and then suddenly I was in the jump-off," said Middlesbrough-based Pippa.
"Showjumping is all about going as fast as you can and leaving the fences up.
"You have to know what your horse is capable of, and luckily the course suited my horse because he has got such a big stride, and I think that is where I won it.
"I knew the way I could catch Millie was to take strides out. We haven't had a tussle like that for a while, but there were a few of them when we both rode ponies.
"I didn't see Millie go in the jump-off - I was in the collecting ring warming up - but I heard she had gone into the lead, and I was grinning because she had done that."
Millie, while gracious in defeat, added ruefully: "That margin of 0.02 of a second is going to haunt me for a while! The last time we had a contest this close, it was the same result."
