Nick and Arko win Christmas Stakes

Nick Skelton completed Britain’s clean sweep at Olympia’s opening show jumping day when a stunning performance on John and Lisa Hales’s Arko captured the major jump-off class, the British Eurosport Christmas Stakes.

A difficult first-round track produced only seven clears from the 33-strong track and Nick’s last-drawn jump-off round on this fabulous stallion was pure perfection to beat the leading time set by 21-year-old Swiss rider Steve Guerdat on the scopey grey Campus by more than 1sec.

Nick was delighted with Arko, who finished runner-up in the grand prix at Belfast on his last outing and now looks a strong contender for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier.

The other Briton in the jump-off, Tim Stockdale, finished seventh on Fresh Direct Jerome.

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