Whitaker brothers sweep the board at the Stuttgart Masters and bring home three Mercedes cars
Top show jumping brothers Michael and John Whitaker drove home to Britain with three newcars between them after taking last weekend’s Stuttgart Masters show in Germany by storm.
They won four major classes, beating almost all of the sport’s leading protagonists – including Olympic Champion Jeroen Dubbeldam, World Champion Rodrigo Pessoa, European Champion Ludger Beerbaum and World Cup holder Markus Fuchs – in the process.
Michael set the ball rolling on Anne Bedford’s 12-year-old Dutch-bred stallion, Handel II, by sharing the Mercedes German Masters with home riderMarkus Merschformann on Camirez B.
Then, in the final class of the show, the three-round grand prix, Michael and Handel took the honours by 1.6sec from Holland’s Jeroen Dubbeldam and Inter Access De Sjiem.
The joint value of the two Mercedescars Michael won here was £80,000, thus making this his best ever show with Handel.
John’s two victories were on his long-time partner, Liz Sargeant’s Irish-bred Hunter’s Level. The pair took the opening class and then the knock-out, which carrieda Mercedes Smart Car as first prize.
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