The Brits laid down some of their finest Royal Windsor Horse Show performances in recent memory to remain undefeated over the opening two days of CSI5* classes.
A determined Matt Sampson landed two wins with two different horses, first claiming the opening Pearl Stakes with Nouvelle Van Het Veldhof, a new ride who is out of the same dam as Robert Whitaker’s Hickstead Derby winner Gentleman Van Het Veldhof.
Matt has only been riding the 13-year-old mare since the Sunshine Tour in March.
“She was a bit taken aback here at first as she’s never seen anything like it, but I spent lots of time with her this morning and she was perfect,” he said, after defeating Abdullah Alsharbatly (KSA) and Valentino with 0.33 sec to spare.
Matt then added a blistering triumph in Saturday’s (16 May) Sheikha Fatima Bint Hazza Al Nahyan challenge stakes on Latte Macchiato.
He sewed up a world-class, 13-strong jump off early on, setting an impossible target on the 13-year-old gelding.
“He’s a horse who knows how to look after himself; the faster he goes, the better he jumps. I just had to make sure I did my job,” Matt added.
More British success at Royal Windsor Horse Show
Jack Whitaker was also on form with a new ride, the fabulous Skyfall OS (Diamant De Semilly x Heartbreaker), who he has partnered since February. They topped the podium in Friday’s (15 May) Defender Stakes.
Jack debuted the horse at CSI5* in Miami before making his first appearance as a partnership on British soil at Chepstow, where they were second in the CSI2* grand prix.
Jack said horses like Skyfall OS that can do any sort of class are like “gold dust”.
“I couldn’t ask for a nicer horse,” he said.
The coup was completed by British team lynchpin Ben Maher, who lifted the Kingdom of Bahrain stakes for the King’s Cup with the great 15-year-old mare Ginger-Blue.
“We know each other well and she’s a little bit older now, but she’s probably in her prime at the moment,” said Ben, who was on his first European outing with the mare since a run of success stateside.
“This year, every week I’ve taken her out she’s been there or thereabouts and she’s had some great wins. I get to pick and choose with her, and this will probably be the only class I’ll jump with her this week,” he added.
British team manager Di Lampard, who was watching the action ahead of this year’s world championships (Aachen, 17-3 August), said: “You can really compare the top competition here at Windsor and it’s a really good marker for us.
“The support all the way through the ranks in Britain at the moment is tremendous.”
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