Great Britain claim Nations Cup at Hickstead - Whitaker wins Gold Cup again

Twelve months ago, Great Britain missed out on a hat-trick of victories when finishing runner up to Germany. This year, the team led from the front to claim a glorious victory ahead of Team Ireland.

“Congratulations to Di and her team,” said Hickstead Director Edward Bunn. “Football doesn't need to come home because showjumping definitely has! We went a long time without winning the Nations Cup but now it's becoming a regular occurrence. I'd really like to thank Agria for their continued support of the show and the Nations Cup."

Great Britain had already developed a lead at the end of the first round, thanks to clears from pathfinder Jessica Mendoza (Summerhouse) and Tim Gredley (Medoc De Toxandria). Ben Maher picked up four faults at the Open Water with new ride Catelly, while Adrian Whiteway was the discount score when Chacco Volo refused at the water and picked up a further 16 time faults, leaving the home nation on four faults.

But the Brits didn’t have much breathing room, with Brazil in second at the half-way stage on eight faults, and the UAE and Ireland both on 12 faults to sit third, and Canada (16 faults) and Germany (17) close on their heels. Belgium and France failed to make it through to round two with 21 faults and 24 faults respectively.

In the second round, Jessica knocked one fence down for four faults, while Adrian and Chacco Volo incurred eight faults. Tim – a member of the winning team in both 2023 and 2024 – delivered a superb double clear with Medoc De Toxandria, to pile pressure on Ireland, who had moved up to second place with a team total of 16 faults.

Last to go for the Irish were Conor Swail and Clonterm Obolensky, who were the only other combination to jump a double clear – meaning Great Britain’s final rider only had a fence in hand if they wanted to avoid a jump-off against the Irish. But there are few riders better than three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Maher at dealing with pressure, and he rode Catelly to a lovely clear round to clinch the Edward, Prince of Wales Trophy.

“Typically, I'm the first rider on the team, and I was switched around today to ride last,” said Ben. “So I was in a different position and had that pressure, but it was great to be able to finish it for this amazing team. Catelly jumped incredibly and showed what he can do today, and I'm very fortunate to have the team of horses that I have.”

Tim Gredley has been on the Hickstead team three times, and has won on each occasion. “Hickstead for me is the Holy Grail, I love jumping here. To come here and jump a double clear and win on the team is brilliant, and what it's all about.”

Canada (in third place), Brazil (fourth) and the UAE (fifth) all finished on 24 faults apiece, with times deciding their eventual placings. Last year’s winners Germany slipped down the placings to finish sixth.

Matt Sampson launched day two of five-star classes at the Agria Royal International Horse Show with his second win of the week on the 13-year-old mare One Whisper.

Having won the first day by nearly 3sec, they doubled their advantage, heading the ClipMyHorse.TV International Stakes with a mighty 5.62sec to spare.

“She is so fast, it’s just the rhythm she likes to jump in. I was early to go and I knew there were some fast guys behind me, so I just thought ‘keep in a rhythm and let her do her thing’.” Matt said.

This morning’s Breen Equestrian CSIYH1* second qualifier went to Pippa Goddard and the eight-year-old grey mare PDV Constanza, with the UAE’s Salim Ahmed Al Suwaidi and SS Ourania less than half a second in arrears.

WHITAKER COMPLETES GOLD CUP TREBLE

Last year’s winners Robert Whitaker and Vermento secured a third win in the Al Shira’aa King George V Gold Cup on Sunday, the final day of the Agria Royal International Horse Show.

Not since the great Foxhunter took Harry Llewellyn to a third victory in 1953 has any horse won this title three times. Now Robert and Vermento have become the first combination in the modern era of the sport to achieve this feat, winning in 2023, 2025 and now 2026. Robert has also equalled his father tally of wins in this class, with John Whitaker senior taking the title in 1986 (Ryan’s Son), 1990 (Milton) and 1997 (Welham). Robert's uncle Michael Whitaker has won the class four times, with David Broome holding the record with six wins.

Drawn eighth to go in the first round, Robert produced the first of the five clear rounds with the 13-year-old son of Argento, meaning he had the unenviable first draw in the jump-off. Setting off round the shortened track, he and Vermento repeated their clear round in a time of 43.34sec to set the target for the others.

Canada’s Nicole Walker and Panter JVH were the next in, and they finished up on the clock in 42.07sec, but a slip going round the edge of the open water altered their rhythm and they knocked down the last fence. Brazil’s Stephanie Maciera was hoping to become the second woman to win the King George since the class was opened up to both sexes in 2008. She produced the only other double clear on Novak De Kalvarie, but crossed the tape more than a second slower than Robert to take second place.

Robert's cousin Jack Whitaker and Jack JL had two down to finish fourth, while Britain’s Nations Cup heroine Jessica Mendoza had to settle for fifth place with Summerhouse.

"To win it three times is incredible, what can I say?" said an emotional Robert afterwards. "I didn't have the best draw, having to jump off as first to go. I know this ring is very big and open, and it's easy to knock one down, so I just wanted to do a safe round. To be honest, I thought I was a fraction slow, and when I was clear after the second to last fence, I probably took a bit more time than I should have. But it paid off!"

Robert also paid tribute to his long-term owners, Caroline and Stephen Blatchford. "They're fantastic owners, and we've got a lot of horses coming through," said Robert.

The UAE’s riders had a brilliant start to the day with a one-two in The Breen Equestrian CSIYH1* Final. The winners were Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi and the impressive eight-year-old mare Biarritz Z, who shaved 0.93sec off the target set by team-mate Abdullah Mohd Al Marri, who finished best of the seven-year-olds with Troy Z.

“I believe in her, she’s exceptional. I think she'll be a super fast mare, and I think she has enough scope to do the top level as well, so I am pretty excited about her future,” said Omar.

Today brought the Agria Royal International Horse Show to a close, but the showjumping action continues at Hickstead with the Al Shira'aa British Young Horse Championships, which take place from 13-16 August. Spectator admission and parking is free.

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ALSO AT THE ROYAL INTERNATIONAL SHOW…

Anya Dewey Clarke made history twice at the Agria Royal International Horse Show when she became the first rider to win the Pro Ponies UK Winter 128cm Championship three times, as well as the first to also win the Pony of The Year BS Winter 138cm Championship in the same year.

It was 11-year-old Anya’s final year competing in the 128cm class, as it is restricted to riders under the age of 12, and she produced a brilliant one-two finish. While her superstar pony Jim won the title for the past two years, this time it was his stablemate Kilcreene Snapdragon who just pipped him to the post from last-to-go against the clock.

Anya was in the difficult, but enviable, position of having to decide which pony she wanted to win on: victory for 18-year-old Jim would have made them the only pony-and-rider combination to win the title three times, but 13-year-old 'Snappy' has never taken the sash here before.

“It was a tough decision to know what to do. I knew that I probably wanted to win on Jim but I wanted to do the same round as I did on Jim with Snappy, and do all the turns. I let him go on to the last and he’s got such a big stride, he covers the ground,” said Anya, who beat her own time by 0.69sec. "They are both incredible ponies and I love them so much.”

The class formed a tough challenge for the young riders — Anya was riding two ponies out of only five combinations to make the jump-off, from a start list of 22. “I am always confident with my ponies,” said Anya, who is based in Brampton in Lincs. “I knew I could just go in there and if I gave them my all, they would give it back!”

Less than 2hrs later, Anya broke her second record of the day when she became the first rider to win both the 128cm and 138cm winter titles in the same year.

She dominated a six rider jump off in the Pony of the Year BS Winter 138cm championship, stopping the clock an impressive 3.55sec ahead of runner-up Amy Capper and five-time champion Playboy Van De Zoetwei.

“We went for a strong clear in the first round and then I knew that the time in the jump off was very fast, so I had to start strong and finish strong with tight turns,” said Anya, who rode the mare in this final for the first time last year. "Last year we were just getting to know each other and ever since that, we’ve kept coming on. She’s giving me brilliant results and I can’t wait for the rest of the year. She is just a dream to ride, she is known as the queen of the yard.”

Five-star event rider Gemma Stevens stamped her showjumping credentials once again, winning today’s UNIBED High-Performance Equine Bedding BS Winter Grades B&C Championship.

Riding Nadia Al Mutawa’s stallion Warrior Special (Warrior x Caretino Glory), Gemma produced the fastest of the six double clears in the jump-off, to finish 0.23sec ahead of Thomas Pritchard and Princess SW in second.

“It’s one of my biggest showjumping wins here,” said Sussex-based Gemma. “Warrior Special is a big horse, he’s really careful with the most enormous stride, so I probably took 10 less strides than everyone else! For such a big horse, he’s got a real turn of foot.”

It was a day of celebration for the British star, who combines showjumping with top-level eventing, as Gemma has just been named on the British team for next month’s FEI World Championships, riding her 2022 Ashby Underwriting Eventers' Challenge winner Flash Cooley.

Cheshire’s Georgia Cooper-Hall got today’s national finals off to a storming start when she took an assured 2.64sec win in the SEIB BS Winter Novice Championship.

Her win came courtesy of Liam Hall’s six-year-old mare Ukira Van De Helle (United Way x Cormint), who was bought directly from Belgium’s Van De Helle stud last year.

Five of the seven combinations to reach the jump off were clear, with 18-year-old Georgia stealing the advantage from Melissa Garry and Supermoon 13 with a bold run to the last.

“She is so fast, I know that when she gets in a jump off, she has a really good chance,” said Georgia. “She is really quick off the ground, doesn’t spend much time in the air and she’s so careful.”

Raphaela Dawson enjoyed her first ever Hickstead win in The Oakley Coachbuilders BS Winter Grade JC Championship, jumping the only double clear with the eight-year-old Belgian gelding Woody Van Duyversputten.

“It was difficult being first-to-go because there were lots of fast people after me, but the track proved tougher for them than I thought it would be,” said Raphaela, 15.

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Gemma Stevens became the first rider to win the Ashby Underwriting Eventers’ Challenge three times in its current format, producing an assured victory on reigning champion Cooley Park Muze on Thursday.

Drawn last to go out of 24 starters, West Sussex-based Gemma kept a cool head to produce a fluent clear round the lengthy track, crossing the finish line more than 6sec ahead of her nearest rival, in a time of 117.80sec.

“He is the most wonderful jumper, and safe to say, he's probably the best horse I've ever sat on,” enthused Gemma about the 10-year-old gelding.

Gemma’s main focus is eventing, and she is off to Aachen for next month’s FEI World Eventing Championships with her 2022 Eventers’ Challenge winner, Flash Cooley. But she also competes at the top-level in showjumping, finishing sixth in this year’s Al Shira’aa Derby with Envoy Merelsnest Z and winning Thursday’s UNIBED High-Performance Equine Bedding BS Winter Grades B&C Championship with Warrior Special.

Like Gemma, her winning ride Cooley Park Muze is also talented across both diciplines. “He could be a pure show jumper, but he's brave enough to be an event horse, and he's at lovely dressage, so at the moment, we're sticking with that,” she added.

Asked about his strengths, she says: “He's so incredibly adjustable, I can be full speed and go back to a collected canter in less than two strides — and there aren't many horses that can do that.”

While Gemma felt a bit of pressure as the reigning champion, her earlier International Arena win took some of the weight off her shoulders. “I just thought, I've had a lovely win yesterday, so let's just enjoy this wonderful horse and do the best we can do. I knew my plan, and I tried to stick to it, to the point where I made [husband] Gary watch the round back from last year and worked out where I could go one or two less strides. And I'm not joking when I say I counted everywhere!”

Another rider who was busy studying Gemma’s winning round from last year was eventual runner up Tara Dixon, the daughter of four-time Olympian Karen Dixon.

“At the beginning of this year I wrote a 2026 bucket list, and this was on my list,” said Tara. “I watched Gemma’s round from last year, and I analysed that for a long time!”

Tara’s mother had ridden in the Eventing Grand Prix – the former incarnation of the class, when showjumpers and eventers went head to head – but it was Tara’s first ever visit to Hickstead. She produced a brilliant round by Master Smart, a 13-year-old bay gelding, adding just 4sec for a total time of 124.30sec.

In third place was last year’s runners up, Alexander Bragg and Ardeo Premier, who finished clear in a time of 125.13sec.

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Holly Smith made the journey down from Leicestershire to Hickstead with one specific aim – to win this year’s JCL Insurance Brokers Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

It was the first time the 37-year-old rider has won this prestigious national final, and it marked a fairytale comeback for her winning ride Fruselli. Su and Gordon Hall’s 16-year-old stallion has had a two-year lay-off, but since returning to the ring earlier this summer he has now taken four wins on the bounce.

“Whether he would come back or not, we just didn't know,” said Holly, who was part of the British team at the Tokyo Olympics. “We dipped our toes with him a few weeks ago at Bolesworth and he was exceptional there, then we brought him here and he's gone and done it again. It's like a dream, and what a privilege it is to ride a horse with such experience.”

Holly and Fruselli were one of eight combinations to jump clear in the first round, with Holly the sixth to go against the clock. She was able to use Fruselli’s long stride and wealth of experience to shave more than 1.5sec off leaders Ella Dalton and Ultimo NZ’s time, to take the lead in 35.60sec.

“Luckily, we've got a big screen down in the warm-up arena, so I kept an eye on what people were doing and I had an idea of how fast they were," said Holly. Fruselli's a naturally quick horse, but you've got to get that balance of not going absolutely mad, but not leaving the door open for anybody else either.”

Eventer Gemma Stevens was the only rider to cross the finish line in a quicker time, but a fence down on Envoy Merelsnest Z dropped them to seventh.

Runner-up Ella Dalton was awarded the Cindy Mead Memorial Trophy as the highest placed rider under-25, while former Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Harriet Biddick took third with Diamond Blue.

The 1.50m Royal International Trophy featured a stacked, 17-rider jump off. Twenty-three-year-old Belgian rider Mathieu Bourdeaud’Hui made his Agria Royal International debut a winning one when he remained 0.58sec ahead of Rob Whitaker and Strike a Pose.

Mathieu was riding Tony Olivier’s British-bred nine-year-old My Kingdom, who was jumping his first five-star. “There were a lot in the jump off, so I knew I had to take some risk,” said Mathieu. “For me it was perfect to have a jump-off where you need a lot of canter, my horse was very good.

“I’ve always wanted to come here, Hickstead is an amazing show. Every year I watch on the livestream at home and I’ve been dreaming of riding here one day,” he added. “We’ve definitely had a good first visit!”

Ben Maher was matchless against the clock in the Unex Group Speed Classic, riding Jane Forbes Clark’s versatile and talented 15-year-old mare Ginger-Blue.

Faults count as time in this Table C class, but Ben was both fast and clear, undercutting another swift and clean round from Matt Sampson and Latte Macchiato by 0.23sec.

"We’ve had her since a seven-year-old and she’s won so many classes for us, I know her very well. We’re very strategic now with where we place her and what we do with her as she’s a little bit older but she’s in probably the best form she’s ever been in this year,” Ben said.

Ben helped the British team to triumph in yesterday’s Agria Nations Cup riding Catelly and is preparing to contest tomorrow’s Al Shira’aa King George V Gold Cup with Enjeu De Grisien.