Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

52 Horse&Hound1 August 2019

Pictures by

Peter

Nixon

SHOWJUMPING

LONGINES ROYAL

INTERNATIONAL

CSI5* classes

AmandaDerbyshireandher‘game’marescoopa braceofwins,whilecareful

planningpaysoffforGuyWilliamsandEllenWhitakerimpressesthecrowd

Britain dominates

the placings

BRITISHriderswereonfirewith

a one-two-threeintheopening

twofive-starclasses,a brilliant

doubleforAmandaDerbyshire

andOasisSpirit,plusa majorwin

forEllenWhitaker.

Amandaandherlittlenine-

year-oldmare,byCobra,opened

theiraccountwithvictoryinthe

73-strongBunnLeisurevase.

Nobodycouldcatchthespeedy

pair,whoweredrawnthirdtogo

andstoppedtheclockina timeof

65.86secwithmorethana second

inhandoversecond-placed

JessicaMendozaandDollar

Girl46.JodieHall-McAteerand

FantomcompletedtheBritish

topthree.

This was the first time Amanda

hadcompetedthemareon

grassandthepaircompleted

theirHicksteaddoublebytaking

tophonoursinFriday’sBunn

Leisureinternationalstakes,

withJessicaandDollarGirl 46 in

secondagain.

Germaneventinglegend

MichaelJungtookanearlylead

withtheeight-year-oldDante

RZ,beforeCatherineTyreeand

BecLorenzospedahead.The

US rider’s lead was short-lived

however,asAmandawasnextinto

thering.

“She’sa fighterandhasa

massiveheart;shedoesn’tlook

assmallassheactuallyis,”added

Amanda.“Onalltheroll-backsI

endedupdoinga stridelessthan

everyoneelse,sowithoutgoing

crazyI couldfeelgoinground

thatI wasprettyquickas

everythingkeptcomingupon

therightstride.

“Fortunately she’s always

lookingforthenextjump—if the

horseisn’tlookingwherethey’re

goingyouoftenhavetodoan

extrastridehereandthere.She’s

sogame,whichmakesmyjoba

loteasier!”

Amandaalsofinishedthird

inThursday’sBunnLeisure

trophyaboardher 2018 World

EquestrianGamesrideLuibanta

BH.ThisclasswaswonbyGuy

WilliamsandRougeDeRavel.

TheestablishedFrench-based

combinationcontinuedtheir

phenomenalrunofformtograsp

theirninthmajorinternational

winsinceWindsorinMay.

EllenWhitakerandthe

powerfulstallionArenaUK

Winston nudged an early lead for

AmandaDerbyshirerides

OasisSpirittofendoffa

73-strongfieldtoclaim

theBunnLeisurevase

beforegoingontowin

the international stakes

‘Shehasa massiveheartand

doesn’tlookassmallasshe is’

AMANDA DERBYSHIRE ON OASIS SPIRIT