British SJ success on Sunshine Tour

Ellen Whitaker’s amazing form on the Spanish Sunshine Tour continued at the final show, where she won both the five-year-old and six-year-old grands prix.

In the five-year-old class, Ellen took the ride on Krishna De Sisse from father Steven and jumped the only double clear to beat Irish rider Niall Talbot (Libero Boy).

Matthew Broome was unlucky not to make this jump-off after collecting one time-fault in the first round on Rocco. He finished fifth, ahead of fellow Briton Carolyn Jones, who also had one time-penalty but was 0.01sec slower with Kilcoltrim Rose.

Ellen had a harder job in the 14-horse six-year-old grand prix jump-off, where she and Quite Dutch held off strong challenges from Brazilian riders Felipe Guinato (Purdey) and Bernado Alves (Miss Calei Joter). Robert Whitaker was fourth on Ublesco.

Andrew Davies was the only British winner in the major classes, riding City Guy to victory in a two-phase class. Andrew and Gamble also finished fourth in the small grand prix, where they lowered one fence in the fastest time.

The grand prix went to Norway’s Tony Hansen on Et Royal Volo. Mark Armstrong and Graf Gold were the best of the British in fourth, with Robert Whitaker seventh on Karina.

In the small tour classes, Mischa Irving won a speed class on Meadowhead McGann and Sasha Donn (AK Two Unlimited) joined Belgium’s Pierrin sisters to head the team competition.

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