Ireland’s Billy Twomey has won the Suregrow Five Fence Challenge at Horse of the Year Show – achieving the only clear over a massivecourse.
Terrifying fences
Three riders made it through to the fourth round, where they faced a frankly terrifying set of fences, which included a 1.70m upright and a 1.90m wide triple bar.
Cian O’Connor (Ulme De Feugeres) and Graham Lovegrove (Centolove) both had one down, which meant a clear from Billy would win him the class.
The 37-year-old, who is based in Nottinghamshire, looked like he was schooling Royale Du Rouet around the course. The nine-year-old stallion didn’t put a foot wrong and came home with the maximum number of points to win the class.
Super careful
“He’s got lots of ability and is super careful – he doesn’t want to touch the fences,” Billy told H&C. “This class suited him as he grew in confidence with each round. I was really pleased with him.”
“It’s only our second indoor show and it can take a round or two for a horse to get their eye in, but he’s not really phased by much. He has a good mentality and gets on with his job.”
The Five Fence Challenge sees riders take on a course of five jumps, which go up in height with each round. There are a maximum of five rounds, with points awarded for every fence cleared. The rider with the most points at the end of the competition is the winner.
Closely fought
Earlier in the day John Whitaker won the Horse Radar Stakes with Lord of Arabia.
It was a closely fought competition with John winning the class in a time of 54.48sec. Even speed merchant Nicole Pavitt couldn’t catch him, and had to settle for second place with Victor Blue (55.63sec).
“I was last to go so I knew what I had to do and it was one of those rounds where everything went to plan,” said John. “I watched David Will who was leading for a long time, and I knew I could take a couple of seconds off him.”
Still a winner
John has been coming to HOYS for five decades, but his competitive nature shows no sign of abating.
“I’m still enjoying it, I’ve got some nice horses at the moment and I can still win on my day,” he said. “I first came to HOYS when I was 16 and I’m 59 now. This is where it all started for me.
“I remember watching it as a kid – it was on BBC One after the Nine O’Clock News and that’s what got me into jumping.”