After a gloomy result for the home crowd in Friday’s Nations Cup, there was finally something to cheer about at the Royal International Horse Show on Sunday.
British riders, including two from the Nations Cup team, filled the top three places from a strong international field in the prestigious Longines King George V Gold Cup. In a thrilling seven-rider jump-off, it was Peter Charles who landed the £50,000 prize from difficult first draw on Sandra Cordiner’s Murkas Pall Mall H.
“It means a lot to me — I’ve had a long association with Hickstead and I’ve wanted to win this class for a very long time,” said Peter, the first British rider to land the trophy since Nick Skelton in 1999.
In hot pursuit were Tim Stockdale (Fresh Direct Corlato) and Ben Maher (Robin Hood W) who both finished in a quicker time than Peter but collected four faults apiece for second and third respectively.
Results
1 – Peter Charles (Murkas Pall Mall H) 0/0 (53.50sec)
2 – Tim Stockdale (Fresh Direct Corlato) 0/4 (53.14)
3 – Ben Maher (Robin Hood W) 0/4 (53.19)
Pick up Thursday’s Horse & Hound (30 July) for our special 13-page report on all the action from the RIHS
