A year ago, George Whitaker rode his father-in-law’s brilliant nine-year-old Peanut to victory on the opening day of the London leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour and he repeated the feat on Friday (19 August) to take the hard-fought CSI2* 1.25m Martin Collins London Cup for the second year running.
Martin Wood’s nine-year-old gelding by Barichello scorched round the London LGCT ring under a meticulously judged ride from 30-year-old George to beat a strong field of 45 by a clear margin of 1.5sec. Angela Thompson took the runner-up spot on Steyburn, while Nina Barbour claimed third on the 11-year-old Ardis on a busy first day of competition at the London LGCT.
“I’m planning to jump him in the grand prix [on Sunday] but he’s such a careful horse that sometimes he needs a round just to get him going forward,” explained George. “It was perfect really – he didn’t think he was going flat out either, which is the best way for him to be.
“I was originally planning to have a steady round, but just before I went in I changed my tactics a bit and thought I’ll just get him in a very good rhythm and stay in it – the shot was there at every fence, so it worked out very well.”
London LGCT: a runaway victory
This is George and Peanut’s second success on the LGCT circuit this year, having also won at the Monaco leg in June.
“He wins nearly every time he goes out,” said George. “We don’t do masses at home with him, he’s very easy to deal with. It’s just about trying to keep him happy and fresh really, if he feels confident you’re halfway there with him. If he feels like he’s having to try hard, that’s when you struggle.”
George’s wife Michaela – the pair finally got married in September after Covid delayed their big day – finished third in the opening class at the London LGCT behind winner Aisling Byrne. The couple have been building up their own Dallamires Stables, with about 60 horses stabled at their base near Harrogate.
“I actually haven’t got that many older horses,” explained George. “Peanut is my best horse, then I’ve got a couple of eight-year-olds, a nice seven-year-old, then the rest are five and younger. We started four years ago, buying young ones, and we’ve always got something to sell, then something to replace the ones we do sell. It’s very expensive now to go out and buy a good horse, so we’re trying to create them ourselves.
“Michaela sells a lot of ponies to America, but we sell a lot of horses there too, nice amateur horses in particular. It’s got a bit more difficult since Brexit, but actually that’s made the market better in Britain, people are buying more here.”
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