John Whitaker discusses a tight time allowed in the World Cup and a puzzling result that didn’t sit right with him during the fantastic festive show
The London International is always a good show; it would be whatever time of year it was, but Christmas makes it the icing on the cake. It would have been impossible to recreate Olympia at the Excel but the show works, they’ve kept the atmosphere the same, you get more people watching and you’re not unloading the horses on the street. Everything is easy.
Sunday’s World Cup was a good class. It was a big course and a tight time; for the size of the course, probably a bit too tight. Having said that, it’s difficult to get it perfect, and it was a good jump-off. If the time had been longer, there could easily have been 10 or 12 in the jump-off, instead of five. It’s a tough job to get right; you judge a course-builder on how often he gets it right, and Alan Wade doesn’t often get it wrong.
I knew the time was too tight for me, so I tried to get going early, then take it a bit easy nearer the end. The first three fences felt really good, then my first mistake was that we were going fast, jumped the triple bar and I just didn’t get Equine America Unick Du Francport back enough for fence four. That was tricky, and the other tricky line was the long five strides from eight to nine, going into the corner.
It goes against the grain for me to retire, but after I had the second fence down, I pulled up Unick to save him for the grand prix.
I thought my nephew Donald Whitaker had won it with his jump-off round; that mare’s naturally quick, and he went very fast, but Max Kühner took more chances and it paid off.
That put the pressure on and my son Robert was so unlucky, he was on the time and would have won it, but for having a rail down.
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The result didn’t sit right with me
One thing that was odd this week was the six-bar. Sebastian Hughes and I both retired in the fourth round and Max pulled out before it, but they put us all equal first. I thought at first it must be a mistake but made enquiries and the powers that be said it’s a new FEI rule.
If two go for it and one pulls out, yet they’re all equal and share the same money, that doesn’t seem right to me.
The foreign riders were strong all week, even though some of the big names weren’t there this year due to the calendar being so busy. Victor Bettendorf is a very fast rider naturally, but put him on a fast horse and he’s practically unbeatable!
The crowd carried me round
The time allowed was a bit more forgiving for Monday’s grand prix, which worked in my favour – we just scraped through to the jump-off!
The atmosphere and the noise when I go in the ring is unbelievable, but I felt it more than ever this week. Luckily, it doesn’t bother Unick, although he’s quite a sensitive horse, and it’s really nice to hear. It’s just a pity when it goes wrong because everyone’s rooting for you!
But it really felt like the crowd carried me round the course in the grand prix. I knew the fence we had down in the jump-off would be my bogey fence and Unick just caught the wing as he turned. But to finish fourth and best of the Brits was a great way to end the year and hopefully it carries on in 2026!
Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas.
● What was your experience of this year’s London International, either in person or from watching the live streaming? Let us know at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your thoughts to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine
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John Whitaker is one of the most admired showjumpers worldwide and is still going strong competing at the highest level in his 60s. He has represented Britain in dozens of major international championships collecting 24 medals at Olympic, World and European championships during his long and successful career to date. While he has partnered many famous horses, he is arguably best know for his partnership with the brilliant grey, Milton, who was the first showjumping horse to win more than £1 million in prize money. John is a regular columnist for Horse & Hound magazine.
