Jodie Hall McAteer repeated her win from two years ago in the Voltaire Design under-25 championship on the final evening of London Horse Show showjumping tonight.
Riding Mademoiselle-A, the 21-year-old was the dominant force from the off, winning this morning’s qualifier and then starting last in the jump-off after the fastest first-round clear.
“I’ve been based in Holland all year training with the Schröder brothers,” said Jodie, who is a member of the Switzerland-based young riders’ academy. “They’ve been an unbelievable help to me, but they couldn’t be here today so Scott Brash stepped in and I’m grateful to him.”
The two-stride double of verticals at fence seven accounted for almost half the first-round faults and only Jodie and Joe Stockdale started the jump-off on a clean sheet.
They were joined in the final showdown by the three fastest four-faulters. Two of them accrued more penalties, but Robert Murphy (Highcross Violet) put some pressure on by adding nothing more to his score in a time of 28.74sec.
Joe bettered that by recording 28.15sec on his ride from the senior European Championships, Equine America Cacharel, so Jodie had to do something special to defend her title.
“We watched Joe go and he was fast,” said Jodie. “I actually did one more stride to the second fence and was maybe a bit tighter on the turn after it. Scott told me to do a sensible round and get the job done.”
And so she did, finishing in 27.15sec to pip Joe to the post.
Jodie’s ride Mademoiselle-A is a nine-year-old by Corland.
“I’ve had her for almost three years and in the past few months she’s stepped up consistently to this level,” she said. “She’s a special mare. She loves the job and she’s given me a lot of confidence.”
Joe, 22, said: “I knew Jodie was going behind me and how quick she can be. I got the stride I wanted from fences one to two and then we had a bit of a slip to the third fence. I think I lost time there and she maybe lost a bit of confidence. It’s fine margins, but I’m very pleased with my mare.”
The London Horse Show showjumping concludes with the grand prix later this evening.
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