WILLIAM WHITAKER KNOCKS OUT PATRIK SPITS
Sunday 13 December 2009
Crowds were on their feet cheering their chosen competitors to a win in the 10,000€ Knock Out competition at the Concurso de Saltos Internacional show in Porto last night.
As is proving to be the case at this show, it is Britains younger riders that are knocking some of the best senior International riders off their perch and in this class it was William Whitaker that shone. Riding his fathers Sarlino, on whom he'd had a third place in the speed class the day before, William was first drawn against Portugal's Luis Filipe Fernandes. Knocking him out, he went on to knock out Luis' fellow competitor Ivo Carvalho in the second round.
Moving into the semi-final, William was then paired against Belgium's Patrik Spits on his speed horse Butterfly van de Pandenborre. Having been beaten by a fraction of a second by Patrik the day before, William was determined not to let it happen again, reversing the cards and relegating Patrik into third place by knocking him out in this, the fourth round.
The final saw some incredible competition with the crowd making so much noise it was, at times, hard to hear the commentator over the cheering. It was however, Portugals own Ricardo Gil Santos riding Venus C who finished in first place above William, relegating him to 2nd position.
"That was a fantastic class and Sarlino is going really well out here . Of course I'd like to have won it, but I'm happy with the way he's performing. The crowds always love Knock Out competitions and this was no exception, it was just a great class to compete in" commented William.
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