Posted: 22nd June 2015 | Back to news feed
British star Robert Whitaker continued his world-class form during day three of the Ashford Farm CSI**** Bolesworth International by winning another headline four-star competition on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Yorkshireman followed up his victory with Catwalk IV in Friday's 1.55m class by collecting his second successive £7,260 winner's purse, landing the 1.45m jump-off, sponsored by Equerry Horse Feeds.
With Catwalk taking a breather ahead of contesting Sunday's Redrow Homes Grand Prix, Whitaker turned to the tried and tested 14-year-old bay stallion USA Today as his latest Bolesworth challenger.
And he did not disappoint, clocking 38.49 seconds to conquer a tight, twisting jump-off course that generated mishaps for several of the 18 combinations that made it through round one.
Irish contender Captain Michael Kelly finished second on Drumiller Lough, just 17 hundredths of a second behind Whitaker, with another Irish duo - Edward Doyle and Mullaghdrin Touch the Stars - third, just in front of Jade Burgess and Severly Hille.
"The first round was quite tricky, but there were quite a few clears, and I had a good draw in the jump-off, which helped," said Whitaker, whose run of recent successes will undoubtedly keep him firmly on the Great Britain selection radar ahead of the European Championships in Germany later this summer.
"If you are first to go in a jump-off when there are so many clears, it's difficult. It just worked out well for me, really.
"There weren't too many clears in the jump-off - they were having a lot of faults everywhere - and it was taking a bit of jumping.
"I didn't make a plan to go as quickly as I did, it just sort of worked out well. I can't complain."
Speed queen Laura Renwick, meanwhile, enjoyed another dash to glory with Beluga as one of showjumping's most exciting combinations claimed a second win of this year's Bolesworth spectacular.
Essex-based Renwick won the show's opening four-star class aboard the 14-year-old bay mare on Thursday morning in the International Arena. Saturday's action saw them in the Castle Arena, and they triumphed again, taking the 1.35m speed class, sponsored by Equiline, in emphatic fashion.
A time of 56.16 seconds saw them finish more than two seconds clear of a 32-strong field, with James Smith and Cumina taking second place, followed by Belgium's Jos Verlooy in third on Clearwater 5 and Keith Shore fourth aboard Rubiroso JX.
"She is so fast, and I know if I leave the jumps up she is going to be there or thereabouts. I am very lucky in that respect," Renwick said.
"She is not a slow horse, so she is always going to be in with a shout if the fences stay up."
In Saturday's two-star competitions, Brazilian Marlon Modolo Zanotelli continued his impressive run by claiming a fourth Bolesworth win in three days.
Zanotelli, who is firmly on course to feature for Brazil's showjumping team at the Rio Olympics next year, added the two-star 1.45metre grand prix, sponsored by Ashford Farm, to his impressive Bolesworth collection.
The two-round class, followed by a jump-off, saw Zanotelli deliver the goods each time on Casper 297, culminating in them clocking 35.85 seconds to edge out Norway's Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen on Charleville, while Belgian challenger Mike Van Olst took third spot aboard Top Top.
Zanotelli, who collected £7,260 for his efforts on a horse owned by Bolesworth's title sponsor Ashford Farm, had already won a six and seven-year-old class on Saturday, which followed victories on Thursday and Friday.
"This is my first show with the horse," Zanotelli said. "We have had him maybe about three weeks, and he is only eight.
"He shows all the quality, and he doesn't want to touch a rail. He is a very promising horse for the future."
Zanotelli began Saturday's action by winning the six and seven-year-old class, sponsored by John Deere, on Cool Clarimo - his wife Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli was third - while the 1.25m final, sponsored by Equitop Myoplast, went to Geoff Luckett and Canant, and Julie Slade, riding Billy Gogo, took the amateur 1.20m speed class, sponsored by Alexanders Horseboxes.
And the 1.35m, speed class, sponsored by Royal Crown Derby, was won by Steven Franks on Billy Ginger, with the day's international arena showjumping competition concluding by Geoff Billington - dressed as Superman - combining brilliantly with youngster Martha Hughes to take the Cats & Pipes mini major relay, seeing off challenges from the likes of Ginger Spice-dressed Renwick and Kermit the Frog impersonator Cameron Hanley.
The Gladiators
The Gladiators were on the march at Bolesworth Castle on Saturday night - but it was contender Jemma Coburn who stopped them in their tracks.
The cult ITV series decamped to the Cheshire countryside for one night only in was their first-ever live outdoor performance.
And the IFX Bolesworth Gladiators Knockout certainly packed a punch as legendary referee John Anderson's battle-cry "Gladiator ready? Contender ready?" pierced the evening sky in front of a bumper crowd assembled around Bolesworth's International Arena.
The competition saw teams of showjumpers and contenders take on Gladiators like Ace, Doom, Amazon and Enigma across three Gladiators games - Dual, Zorb and The Eliminator - and it was Wirral-based Jemma who came out on top for Team Redrow alongside showjumper Jay Halim.
The contenders also included BBC Breakfast sports presenter Mike Bushell and dressage rider Nicolle Begovic, wife of Stoke City and Bosnia goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, and the audience revelled in what was another memorable Bolesworth occasion.
John Anderson said: "I really enjoyed it. It was great fun, and a fantastic experience in terms of the arena. It was just magic.
"The audience was very appreciative, making a lot of noise, although probably not as much noise as I was making!
"That was our first-ever live outdoor effort, and certainly the first time with horses, so that was a new experience altogether. I thought it went very well."
Jemma, a showjumper who competes at international level, won a competition on Facebook to fill a role of Gladiator contender, and she added: "I had been on the treadmill in preparation for tonight, but I ride a lot as well.
"The crowd was amazing, absolutely fantastic, and I had the best partner ever in Jay."
Jay, though, readily deflected any praise, stating: "It was a really good, fun competition. Jemma and I know each other really well, and it was thanks to Jemma's efforts that we won."
And one of the Gladiators team, Enigma, said: "That was brilliant tonight, and so good to get back into the arena. It was a really lovely atmosphere out there."
For further information please visit www.bolesworthinternational.com
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