British riders took the top two places at the Lummen CSI3* grand prix in Belgium at the weekend (12 April).
Showjumper Guy Williams beat Holly Gillott by a fraction of a second to take home the €7,500 (£5,400) first prize.
A dozen combinations went clear in the first round with eight producing another clear for the final jump-off in the €30,000 (£22,000) class.
Guy took the honours with Zaire, an 11-year-old bay gelding owned by Caroline Phillips, with a double clear in a time of 36.60s.
“It was a good weekend. The horses are all on form,” Guy told H&H today (13 April).
“Zaire has been on holiday since Mechelen in December. He was seventh last week in a grand prix (also in Lummen) and won yesterday. I was pleased with him.”
Fellow British rider Holly Gillott was just a fraction of second slower in a time of 36.85s to take the runner-up spot.
She was riding Dougie Douglas, the 10-year-old liver chestnut gelding which she jointly owns with Graham Smith.
Belgium rider Karel Cox took third place with Gentleman.
The fourth prize was shared when both New Zealand rider Bruce Goodwin on Cayenne 175 and Frank Schuttert with Winchester for the Netherlands stopped the clock in 37.75s.
There was also a British victory in the CSI1* show running alongside the CSI3* at Lummen, when 15-year-old William Rekert jumped the fastest of seven double clears with Flair Van Overis Z.
William is trained by Guy and is based with him in France.
“William won a 1.30m class in Lummen in the first week, was second in the qualifer and won the one-star grand prix on Saturday, which is quite an achievement for a young lad,” added Guy.
The win for Guy comes three weeks after he landed the final CSI3* on the five-week Spanish Sunshine Tour.
The win for Guy on nine-year-old Basic was a one-two for Di and Pennie Cornish, who also co-owned the runner-up Caritiar Z, ridden by Phillip Miller.
