Robert is three-times champ!

By Justine Thompson

Event diary

20 April 2009 14:46

Top international show jumper Robert Whitaker achieved what no other rider has managed before when he took the British Open Championship title for a third time on Sunday.

Robert rode the talented Lacroix 9 in all four legs of the competition at the NEC, Birmingham, which was an unusual tactic in the sense that no other Champion has won using the same horse in all elements.

The other riders all chose to use two horses and keep their top horse fresh for the Final, but going against the grain certainly worked in Robert’s favour. 

14-year-old Lacroix 9 jumped carefully all week to keep Robert at the top of the leader board going in to the final round, and the partnership kept their cool in the crucial jump-off.

Overnight joint leader Kevin Staut suffered a fall early in the course, eliminating him and immediately ending his British Open dream. 

Eventual second and third place went to Nathalie van der Mei and Robert Smith respectively. It was Nathalie’s first show in England and proved she is able to produce excellent away form.

Robert Smith rode a cracking jump-off on Vangelis S but it wasn’t enough to catch Robert Whitaker, who dominated this competition with first-class jumping from the start.