Robert Whitaker reclaims King George title
Robert Whitaker and Vermento, the winners of the Al Shira’aa King George V Gold Cup in 2023, reclaimed the trophy during a thrilling final day of action at the Agria Royal International Horse Show.
His victory gave his family a third successive victory in this Grand Prix, with Robert’s cousin Donald having won last year’s class. It also made Robert the fourth rider in Hickstead history to win the Al Shira’aa Derby and the King George V Gold Cup in the same year. “It’s surreal,” said Robert. “To win both is very, very special.”
Robert was one of just four of the 46 starters to jump clear round Kelvin Bywater and Ben Townley’s challenging track, which caught out many of the sport’s leading names – including Olympic gold medallist Ben Maher, who had returned to the showground for the final day of the show after attending the wedding of his Paris 2024 team-mate Harry Charles and Eve Jobs.
Ireland’s Jordan Coyle was the first of the quartet to jump round the shortened course in the second round. Riding the 14-year-old Chaccolino, he finished in a time of 40.17sec, leaving his rivals very little breathing space.
Reigning champion Donald Whitaker was next into the International Arena. Last year he’d won the title on the grey mare Millfield Colette, but this year she was not at the show after being part of the silver medal-winning British team at last week’s FEI European Championships in Spain. This year he was riding the eye-catching stallion Di Caprio, and in the jump-off Donald looked to be in with a good chance of retaining the title – only for a stumble in the middle of the double to put paid to their chances.
Next in was Robert, once again riding Caroline and Stephen Blatchford’s 12-year-old black stallion Vermento, a son of Argento. They set off in determined fashion, crossing the finish in a time of 38.88sec to go into the lead. Only one rider could stop him from winning, and that was the 22-year-old United Arab Emirates rider Omar Al Marzooqi, making his first appearance at Hickstead’s five-star event.
In the end it went right to the wire, with the smallest of slips from the 10-year-old Enjoy De La Mure meaning the pair finished less than a second in arrears, in a time of 39.74sec, to give Robert the win.
Robert is now chasing his father John’s total of three King George V Gold Cup victories. “My Dad gets quite emotional – he bred the horse as well, so the whole story is very special,” said Robert, who hails from Huddersfield but now lives in West Sussex. “It’s just been an amazing year for me and my owners – but the year is not over, and we’ve got to keep going!”
Robert and Vermento had originally been selected for the British squad in Friday’s Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain, but Robert opted not to compete for the team and just focus on the Grand Prix. “I jumped at Aachen [last month], and it’s quite hard on the horses to jump both the Nations Cup and the Grand Prix. I was thinking of my horse a little bit – it’s good to have the horse to jump the five-star Grands Prix, and he’s the only one I’ve got for those big classes,” he explained. “He's had two days off since the qualifier, so he was very fresh, and jumped incredibly.”
Hickstead Director Edward Bunn thanked Al Shira’aa, who now sponsor two of Hickstead’s biggest classes. “We cannot thank Al Shira’aa enough for what they’ve done for Hickstead. With Omar on the podium today and two UAE horses in the top six, it just shows they’re becoming a serious force to be reckoned with, so congratulations to them, and thank you for their support of this world-class event,” he said.
Earlier this morning, Kent rider Pippa Goddard won the Breen Equestrian CSIYH1* Final with PDV Constanza. Nine combinations went through to the jump-off, with Pippa stopping the clock on 36.01sec – nearly 2.5sec seconds faster than second-placed Holly Smith and Nike van het Singraven.
“She’s really brave, she’s super careful, and she wants to do it, so she tries really hard,” said Pippa. “But she also has her own mind, and you have to go with her rather than interfering and telling her what to do. At home, we don’t do much with her – we hack her out a lot, and she goes in the field. It’s all about keeping her as happy as possible.”
The Agria Royal International Horse Show drew to a close today. The next competition to take place at Hickstead is the Al Shira’aa British Young Horse Championships (14-17 August), when admission and parking is free of charge to spectators.
