Tom Francis-Jones wins the Charles Britton Equestrian Construction Winter JA Classic Championship
Monday 08 April 2019
Fourteen Year-Old Tom Francis-Jones from Brackley, Northamptonshire landed the feature Charles Britton Equestrian Construction Winter JA Classic Championship on the smallest pony in the class in a thrilling finale at the British Showjumping Winter Pony Championships held at SouthView Equestrian Centre in Cheshire over the weekend.
The small but mighty Kiltormer Hero stands at just 138cm but there was no lack of scope or stride as the Irish-bred 15-year-old tackled course-designer Gillian Milner’s 11-fence track with gusto over the newly-laid outdoor surface at SouthView Equestrian Centre and Tom posted the first clear in round one with ease.
“He likes it here at SouthView, we qualified for the final here and the distances are no problem for him, I almost have to hold him in doubles and combinations,” said Tom, who competed in top level 138cm competitions including Horse of the Year Show and the Royal International at Hickstead with this game, ever-eager pony.
“He’s so switched on and intelligent and he has plenty of power and stride, I just made sure he was balanced and square to the fences and it was a lovely, flowing course,” said Tom, who credited his mum and owner of Hero for all her input – “I cannot thank her enough for all her time and advice, I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Only five of the initial starters jumped clear round the 1.30m first round track to make it through to the second round and just two combinations could produce another clear; Tom and Holly Cooper aboard Beech Comber a 14 year-old Irish-bred gelding owned by Tania Andrews.
Fifteen year-old Holly from Northampton scooped second place when crossing the finish line 1.71 seconds slower than Tom. Tatiane Mauree and her mother Arlina’s Irish-bred 9 year-old Horseabout Zibu were the quickest of the combinations in the jump-off posting a time of 42.89 seconds but picked up four faults.
Charles Britton Equestrian Construction Winter JA Classic Championship – Sunday 7th April 2019
1st Thomas Francis-Jones & Kiltormer Hero – 0/0 – 45.39 seconds
2nd Holly Cooper & Beech Comber - 0/0 - 47.10 seconds
3rd Tatianne Mauree & Horseabout Zibu – 0/4 – 42.89 seconds
NB: Results will be updated pending official grading
Charles Britton Equestrian Construction:
Charles Britton Equestrian Construction are hugely experienced in the design and construction of all equestrian exercise & housing facilities: indoor and outdoor arenas, tracks, walkers, lunge pens, traditional stable yards, American barns, storage facilities, complexes and so on. The hands-on family operation dates back to 1979 and the team provide a complete, turn key and very personal service. They can handle all aspects of any equestrian build project, large or small, private or commercial, and everything is in house: from initial design and Local Authority planning applications all the way through to complete, on-site execution of every aspect of the build. For further information, please visit www.charlesbritton.com or call 01270 528797.
