Julien Epaillard has won the Leading Show Jumper of the Year Grand Prix at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).
Bit lucky
The French rider was the out-and-out winner, producing the only double clear of the night onboard Cristallo A LM – and in the fastest time (39.76sec).
As the second rider in he knew he had to put the pressure on the remaining riders, although a steady clear would have been enough for him to win the class.
“British riders are very fast so we have to do our best to get into the prize-giving,” he said.”I decided not to go crazy fast.I was a little bit lucky towards the end of my round, but I knew I had posted a good time.”
Tough track
John Whitaker had to settle for second place once again after knocking a pole – a position he held in a number of the classes throughout the week. Egypt’s Abdel Said was third with Dakota and Daniel Neilson came fourth on Varo M.
Bob Ellis built a tough track which saw just five clears in the first round, out of 22 starters. Top combinations such as Trevor Breen and Adventure De Kannan, Robert Whitaker and USA Today, and Ben Maher and Aristo all had one down.
Daniel Neilson was the fastest four faults, winning himself a place in the jump-off. He went on to go clear, but with four faults carried over he couldn’t catch the leader.
Superb HOYS
In addition to the Leading Showjumper title, Julien won the HOYS leading athlete award on Cristallo. John took the second and fourth spot with Lord of Arabia and Argento, respectively, while Abdel Said came third on Dakota.
John was also named the leading British rider, following a superb HOYS will saw him rarely out of the top two. Nicole Pavitt, who was vying with Johnfor the number one spot all week, was second.