‘I can’t believe it’: epic jump-offs lead to historic hat-tricks for two riders
A young rider aiming for European team selection made Royal Highland Show history on Sunday (23 June) when she and a superstar stallion won their third consecutive 148cm title – hours after her step-dad took the show’s leading rider title.
Aimee Paxton and Lucy Simpson’s Las Vegas VI topped the The Archibald Buildings/Danny’s Event Catering 148cm final following an epic blink-and-you’ll-miss-it jump-off that went down to the wire.
“The first year I won it I couldn’t stop watching the video because it’s something I’d always dreamed of winning. To win it three years in a row, I can’t believe it,” said Aimee.
The five clears from the first round; Eleanor Archibald and LCS Peachy Beachy, Michael McColm and Legend Scais, Lucy Capper and Capability Brown and Oscar Van De Beekerheide and Aimee and Las Vegas, jumped off in reverse order and the times only got quicker.
Lucy and Capability Brown stopped the clock on 37.00sec, and although it seemed impossible to go any faster, she beat her own time with Oscar Van De Beekerheide, crossing the finish line on 36.83. Last to go Aimee stepped up, with the knowledge that not only would she be defending her title but setting a show record, and she held her nerve until to shave almost a second off the time, recording 35.72sec. Lucy was second with Oscar Van De Beekerheide and third with Capability Brown, Michael was fourth and Eleanor fifth.
“It was so close,” said Aimee, who is aiming for European team selection with Las Vegas VI.
“Lucy looked fast, but Las Vegas VI is so light on his feet and he just keeps travelling. He’s got this way of making it feel so effortless and it’s so nice because you can really believe in him, he wants to help.”
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The victory came after a disappointing trip to Hagen, Germany, where Las Vegas VI was spun on the first trot-up after he became stuck in a haynet and sustained a minor injury, and they had to return home without jumping.
“We were all hoping I could win at the Royal Highland Show again, but obviously everything had to go right. I remember the first time I won it I couldn’t stop watching the video because it’s something I’d always dreamed of winning. Even competing here was a huge dream,” said Aimee, who earlier in the day enjoyed a one-two in the Liz For JC championship, with Gillian McDonald’s Roadside Coronation and Maddie Maher’s Madoghill Gorowny.
It was a family affair for Aimee at the Royal Highland; her sister Sophie was second in the Johnston Smillie B&C Championship final with Ignigena Eickenrode, and their stepfather David Harland won the Norbrook leading rider title and £1,000 bonus with Anne Vedeer’s 17-year-old gelding Chincoreve.
Aimee had obviously taken some pointers in speed from David, who set the fastest clear in the first round of the crowd-favourite 1.40m Andrew Black Haulage and Storage speed class on Friday (21 June) in the main arena. He then had the opportunity to double his £1,300 prize money if he could beat his time in the second round, and that he did.
“I just didn’t take a pull,” said David. “Chincoreve is 17; because he’s a bit older he comes round the corner and he knows there’s a jump coming – you can point and shoot.
“He’s an amazing character. My youngest daughter Georgina is seven and she trots him in the arena over poles. She thinks she’s on half the prize money because she helps me keep him fit, so she is trying to work out how much she’s getting out of the £2,600!”
David has been a long-standing competitor at the Royal Highland Show and it was his first time taking the leading rider title.
“I wasn’t going to do the accumulator class on Sunday, but Chincoreve was going so well that we had to give him the opportunity for that title. When I looked and they’d put me first to go, I thought ‘We’re never going to win it from the front, there’s no chance’. There was Paul Barker, Sandy McLean, Chris Smith, Ben Walker – all these people and I thought ‘They’re never not going to go faster than me if I’m at the front’, but we held on,” he said.
“When we jumped the second last he jumped it and I was umming and ahhing about whether we were going up the inside line to the joker or not. He clocked the joker and went ‘We’re going that way’ and he was off. It’s the first time I’ve ever won the Norbrook title, having won the Scottish leading rider six or seven years ago. Winning the Andrew Black speed class was a bit off the bucket list, but I thought it would be another year for the leading rider, but it was our year.”
British national champions’ epic Highland hat-trick
National champions Adrian Speight and Judith Witham’s 17-year-old Millfield Baloney also achieved a historic Royal Highland Show hat-trick, as the first combination to win The Coutts RHS grand prix three years in a row.
“To win it once is great, twice is fantastic, but three times is bl**dy brilliant!” said Adrian.
Mark McGowan’s 1.55m track, while testing, produced 10 clears from 20 in the first round.
“After the international stairway (designed by Shaun Sands) on Friday which jumped amazing, it was obvious that the grand prix had to be a level above,” said Mark.
“I was actually surprised to get 10 clears as I was aiming for five or six, but the ground was so incredible that in spite of the last line being 1.55m they made it look three holes smaller!”
Jumping in reverse order in the jump-off, third-to-go Paul Barker used 12-year-old stallion Green Grass’s ability to turn on a sixpence to shave more than seven seconds off Stephen Lohoar and Night And Day Van ‘T Vlasmeer’s time to stop the clock on 49.09sec.
It looked like Paul had sealed the deal, with only Annabel Shields and Creevagh Carisma coming within touching distance on 49.3sec, until penultimate combination Adrian and Millfield Baloney (Louie) stepped up.
The pair executed the first half of the course with precision, nailing the first turnback to a big upright, followed by the big oxer-vertical combination. As the pair spun back to another upright Louie slipped, but the nimble 18-year-old was undeterred. After getting away with a brief touch of the penultimate oxer, the powerhouse gelding opened up to the last, taking a stride out to stop the clock on 47.6sec.
“He’s just a freak – I really can’t put it down to anything else,” said Adrian.
“When we had the slip I thought ‘Oh b*gger!’ but I managed to pick him up, and he was just on it.”
Adrian and Millfield Baloney’s owner Judith Witham are “considering Louie’s age a bit”, but there are no retirement plans on the horizon yet.
“He’s sound, healthy and on form. I’m relying on him going until he’s 30,” joked Adrian.
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.