James Whitaker became the first member of his clan to etch his name twice on the Queen Elizabeth II cup at Hickstead’s Agria Royal International Horse Show (RIHS), bullseyeing his main target for the summer with top ride Just Call Me Henry.
“My plan ended here — I’ll have to make another one now!” said James, who was so sure he’d outclassed the opposition with his gutsy round, he punched the air as he crossed the finish.
“It’s a great class to win. Some feel lucky to win it once and I’ve been lucky enough to win it twice.”
James first captured this coveted national trophy at the age of 21, riding his brother William’s Derby winner Glenavadra Brilliant.
“It only took me another eight years to win it again,” he said. “I’ve had some nice horses in it but the only way [Just Call Me Henry] was going to knock a fence today was if I messed up.”
Eight set the pace for gripping decider
The JCL Insurance Brokers Queen Elizabeth II Cup had 29 hopefuls on the start list this year and it would have been easy to think it was an uncharacteristically soft track when there was a clear from first out Emily Seal and the 10-year-old Karmaletta.
But her ecstatic reaction demonstrated it was no small accomplishment and 11 combinations came and went before Gemma Stevens, equally thrilled with Envoy Merelsnest Z, made it a jump-off.
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Ella Dalton (Hurricane VDL), Peter Moloney (Nielson), Ronnie Jones (Thomascourt Emirates) and Allana Clutterbuck (Vykinbay) joined the hunt, accompanying James into a gripping, eight-man decider.
All bets are off as lead changes rapidly
Pathfinder Emily’s tidy clear made sure the clock would dictate the outcome but the lead changed hands rapidly: Ella went more than 7sec out in front, before Peter shook off her advantage. Ronnie then gambled on a slicing the line into the double that didn’t pay, setting the fastest time but tipping the first element.
Vykinbay ate up the ground for Allana, and you’d understand why she thought she’d done enough as she edged 0.16sec out in front.
But a determined James was fresh from an impressive rankings win at Chard CSI3* and knew how to get the most from this 10-year-old gelding, who can be relied on to stay careful from full charge.
With a very quick exit from the double and turn to the final fence, he smashed the target by 1.43sec.
“He didn’t leave much to spare”
“He’s been knocking at the door for a little while, jumping a lot of rankings clears and then having an unlucky fence in the jump-off. He was good last week at Chard and it carried on to this week,” James said.
“I was very happy with the horse, I felt like he didn’t leave much to spare. The only place I was slow was back to number three, the oxer, which wasn’t a great fence for me so I knew I had to take a bit of time there. I was very tight back to the JCL fence, which is where I think I got it.”
Runner-up Allana, riding the great partner she took a shine to in France as an eight-year-old that “no one else wanted”, was again best of the under-25s. The 17-year-old gelding has been in the best of form, winning his first CSI2* grand prix at Chepstow in May.
“I’m not sure where I lost it today,” Allana said. “My plan was originally to go seven to the red and white vertical and I made it round there in six. He spends a quite a lot of time in the air, so I wonder if that’s where he lost some time, especially over the last where he jumped big.”
“I think I would definitely change a few things if I could do it again,” said third-placed Peter, who has been a threat in every jump-off he’s contested since taking over the reins of former Foxhunter champion Nielson last year. “I was too slow to number two and too conservative into the double but these guys were better than me today but I’m very pleased with my horse, he’s very consistent and tries his best every day.”
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