Super speedy Sammie-Jo rises to the Challenge

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Cornwall-based showjumper Sammie-Jo Coffin further stamped her Hickstead credentials when winning today’s Voltaire Design Douglas Bunn 1.35m Challenge.

As well as taking top spot in the class on board Willem De Lux, with whom she has finished in the top 10 in the Al Shira’aa Derby on a number of occasions, she also finished third with Bellamy II.

Olympic rider Gemma Tattersall finished in second place with the 16-year-old event mare, Chico Bella P.

Sammie-Jo was drawn second to go in the Voltaire Design Douglas Bunn 1.35m Challenge, and she set the pace from the outset with a fast clear in a time of 92.67sec. None of the remaining riders could come close, with Gemma finishing more than 1.3sec in arrears.

“I’m thrilled, I didn’t expect it, but it’s always lovely to get to jump in the main ring,” said Sammie-Jo. “Willem loves the Derby fences but Bellamy had never seen them before. My plan with Willem was just to keep moving, stay smooth and see what happened, and he was just brilliant. It has quite a few of the Al Shira’aa Derby fences in there so it’s useful to see how they’ll react.”

In this morning’s Al Shira’aa Seven Year Old Championship, the Billy Stud team had further cause for celebration when they took both first and second place. William Funnell rode Billy Marmite to win, ahead of stable jockey Lucy Townley on Billy Pablo.

“Billy Marmite is a really special horse, and to have a one-two was great. I don’t like to beat Lucy but I do think Marmite deserved the win,” said William. “We had a great day yesterday with wins in the Four and Five Year Old classes and now the Seven Year Olds too, we just missed out on the Six Year Old but I guess that would have been greedy!”

Three other championship classes took place in the Longines International Arena on the penultimate day of the Science Supplements All England Jumping Championships.

Despite being drawn first to go in the jump-off in the IG Equine All England 1.10m Amateur Championship, Jasmine Gutsell set such a speedy time with Killuppaun Contador that none of her rivals could catch her.

In the GoodBye Flys All England 1.20m Amateur Championship, Amy Carnet took the win with Banderas, an 11-year-old bay gelding; while the final class of the day - The DM Horseboxes All England 1.00m Open Championship – was won by Jay Halim and Billy Cointreau.