Two grand slam bonus prizes won on penultimate day of Tour

Arianna Kuligowski became the first ever Science Supplements Grand Slam winner today at Hickstead.

She picked up a bonus prize to the value of £3,000 for winning the Science Supplements 1.20m Amateur Championship for the second week in a row, riding her talented and consistent eight-year-old mare Ivascalle.

Four riders made it through to the jump-off, but Arianna’s perfectly timed round saw her go nearly two seconds quicker than runner-up Hannah Tiley (Capistelle JX).

“She is quite literally my princess, I’ve had her since she was three and our journey together has been amazing,” said Arianna. “It’s one thing trying to win last week but to win this week as well is unbelievable. I felt a little bit of pressure but I tried to block it out and concentrate on my round.”

But not to be outdone, the second of our grand slam contenders Jay Halim managed to see off his rivals in a 15-strong jump-off to take his bonus as well. International showjumper Jay was the reigning Science Supplements 1m Open Champion after winning the class in 2020 with Billy Cointreau. Last week the pair claimed the 1m Open title yet again to put themselves in Grand Slam contention, then today a perfectly-timed round from a penultimate draw saw them net the crucial win, and with it the bonus prize. 

The final of our Al Shira’aa-sponsored age classes reached its conclusion today too, with the seven-year-olds taking centre stage. Sally Goding and her mare Spring Willow were the fastest of the nine combinations in the jump-off, finishing almost a second faster than Bunty Howard and Glenn Miller II.

“There was a strong field in the jump-off but she likes going fast, so I was able to take the handbrake off and go for it,” said Sally.

In what was an action-packed day at Hickstead, the Douglas Bunn 1.35m Challenge saw 20 riders come forward to tackle the course, which features many of our most famous obstacles including the less steep side of the bank. It went down to the wire between Darren Wise (Midnight Time) and eventual winners Poppy Stronge and Las Vegas 200, who crossed the finish just 0.21sec ahead of Darren.

Las Vegas 200 was formerly evented by reigning world champion Ros Canter, but he wasn’t keen on the dressage phase. “He’s done a lot of showjumping since, but he’s never done a class like that so it’s really exciting to do something different. You never know, he could be a future Derby horse!” added Poppy. 

Jessica Graham and the 13-year-old mare HHS Faldo won the opening class of the day, the HY Equestrian 1.10m Amateur Championship. Watch her round here. 

For all the results click here.