After winning the 128cm primary championship on Thursday, Jessica Hewitt and Pendini added the National 128cm title to their achievements.
Late drawn in the jump off, Jessica produced another flying round from her careful little mare. “It was a bigger course today, but no fence is too big for her,” said Jessica.
Tim Wilks was another rider celebrating a championship double. Following on from his junior star spotters win with Rusty Boy, Tim also claimed the under 16 final riding the Billy Stud’s Billy Pop.
Tim has been riding the British-bred mare for six months, and she proved deceptively fast from an early draw in the jump off. “She has a fairly short stride, but that does help to get the turns,” said Tim.
Kerstin Deakin was left agonising through the remainder of the National 138cm jump off, after she set a tremendous pace with The Agent. The Newcastle rider never took a pull, and a brilliant jump across the final upright saw The Agent set an unbeatable target. “We had no choice but to take risks, and it was an amazing round,” said Kerstin.
Victory in the junior progressive championship went to Jersey rider Josh Baudains riding the seven-year-old skewbald Texas John. Josh successfully commutes from the Channel Islands to compete on the mainland during the summer, and he qualified two ponies (Texas John and Cactus) for a total of seven championships.
After winning the 2009 Katherine James novice championship, Kerry Grimster’s One Diamond stepped up a level to win the Equissage National Discovery title, and the pair are also qualified for the Adventurer championships.
The National 1.30m championship went right to the wire, Sam Hutton and For A Smile winning from last draw. The final oxer proved the downfall of many, but Fiona Dunning’s Carnaval Drum mare absolutely flew it.
“She locked onto the fence and knew exactly what she was doing,” said Sam, who added to his winnings when riding Top Limit to win the pairs championship with Gemma Hallett (Wake Up).
Another brilliant last drawn effort secured victory for James Smith and Winday II in the Sports Horse Classic championship. James bought his mare in Belgium this summer, and she has since qualified for the Horse and Hound Foxhunter and 7 & 8-year old finals at Horse of the Year Show.
Championship results
Independent Asset Management pony progressive novice.– 1, Texas John (J Baudains); 2, My Time IV (T Evans); 3, Nevada IV (L Cobby). Jane Pownall National 128cm.– 1, Pendini (J Hewitt); 2, Spring Disney (J Hall-McAteer); 3, Flinor Songbird (A Gill). Jane Pownall National 138cm. – 1, The Agent (K Deakin); 2, Pedro De Bronski (F Adams); 3, Emoe Jessie (E Ward). SJA Services under 16yrs. – 1, Billy Pop (T Wilks); 2, Usar Hune (J Mendoza); 3, Miss Contradiction (K Taggart). Equissage National Discovery. – 1, One Diamond (K Grimster); 2, Jubilee III (E Stoker); 3, Quids In II (A Mills). High Offley Stud 1.30m.– 1, For A Smile (S Hutton); 2, Calvaro’s Ace (P Barker); 3, Just Teasing (A Trickett). Sport Horse Classic. – 1, Winday II (J Smith); 2, SHC Valentin R (M Potter); 3, Ciella (S Buckley). Cats & Pipes pairs challenge. – 1, Wake Up (G Hallett) & Top Limit (S Hutton); 2, Northern Dance All Night (J Smyth) & Zegreanne Z (K Shore); 3, Zapzarap (E Grant) & William Wallace IV (C Collins).
