Matthew Sampson triumphs in the Turkish Airlines London Grand Prix at The London International Horse Show 2022
Tuesday 20 December 2022
In what must have been one of the most exciting and nail-biting Grand Prix titles for a long time, Great Britain’s Matthew Sampson triumphed in the Turkish Airlines London Grand Prix on 19 December 2022, the last night of The London International Horse Show.
Matthew, riding his own and Rachel Evison’s 13-year-old mare Ebolensky, produced an incredible and sole double clear of the class to outdo his three rivals in the jump-off and bring a brilliant five days of jumping to an enthralling close.
The 1.60m twelve fence course, built by course designer Bernardo Costa Cabral, proved to be the downfall of the 30-strong field of elite riders, with fences falling all over the course. Having retired Ebolensky in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup class the day before, Matthew was the first rider to jump clear, and was joined in the jump off by Sweden’s Angelie von Essen, Italy’s Lorenzo De Luca, and Ireland’s Dennis Lynch.
First to go in the jump-off, Matthew made a feisty and daring start, riding tights turns and taking a stride out to the last fence. The packed-out crowds almost lifted the roof when the sole British representative produced the all-important double clear in a time of 31.88 seconds. Having put the pressure on, it seemed that Matthew and Ebolensky could not be caught, as the rest of the field were unable to find that illustrious double clear and ended up with faults in trying to catch his time.
Lorenzo De Luca and Curcuma Il Palazzetto produced the fastest four-fault round in 34.28 seconds to finish in second. Angelie Von Essen and Coachella also had one rail down to finish third, just over half a second behind the Italian, in a time of 34.87 seconds. Dennis Lynch and Dark Chocolate tapped two poles out of the cups to finish fourth in 33.77 seconds.
Talking from the top step of the podium, an emotional Matthew said: “I can’t believe it, it’s absolutely incredible, a dream come true.
“It really is such a special achievement for me and my owners, the Evison family. We have had Lenni [Ebolensky] from a foal, I’ve ridden her since she was seven and to win this class is absolutely amazing.
“You see all the best riders in the world come here, so for us, especially being British, it’s the best place there is. Competing here is what we dream of when we’re growing up and to actually win is just unbelievable”.
Click here for the full results.
Image: Peter Nixon
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