Burke back on top in Sussex Cup

Jessica Burke won today’s 1.40m Sussex Cup with Inpulss, crowning a fabulous first week at the All England September Tour for the Irish rider.

A total of 37 combinations came forward for the £6,000 feature class, with only six producing a clear round. Just three of these went double clear, with Jessica the fastest in a time of 41.42sec ahead of runners-up Tim Davies and Nielson (41.75sec) and  Emma Louise Stoker, who finished third on Indekann HK (43.79sec).

“Inpulss is an absolute weapon, she’s fearless,” said Jessica of the nine-year-old mare. “I need to do some planning for next week, but we’ll definitely be jumping the Grand Prix.”

It’s been a brilliant week for Burke, who scored a treble of wins in Friday’s Star of the Future young horse classes.

Another rider on fine form this week is event rider Gemma Stevens, who took the Hickstead 1.30m Open Championship with Balou For Pleasure.

“I’m chuffed to bits with him, I’ve only had him a couple of months,” said Gemma, who has spent the summer working on the horse’s fitness and flatwork. “He’s a little bit of a quirky boy and likes to show everyone his tummy every now and again!”

The pair have just done their first 1.40m together, and Gemma rates him as one for the future. “It’s so nice to have another one coming up behind Candy Girl, and to have another one who can jump those big classes. He’s a really exciting horse for me. He wants to be careful, but he’s so scopey and he’s really starting to trust me now.”

Tom Whitaker had his first Longines International Arena victory this morning, winning the Hickstead Novice Championship on catch ride Sandyhill Candy.

“I’ve been second here many times so it’s nice to finally get a win here,” said Tom, who finished more than 2sec faster than his nearest competitor with the seven-year-old gelding. “Nicole Pavitt’s been riding him and she’s done a brilliant job, but she’s been off recovering from an operation on her collar bone,” he explained.

Hannah Tiley won the Stoner Jewellers 1.20m Open Championship with Capistelle Jx, finishing a second ahead of Sam Ward (Di’s Girl). “I wanted to put the pressure on from the beginning as I was third to go, and it paid off. It was horrible watching everyone else go!” said Hannah.

Today brought week one of the All England Jumping Tour to a close, before action resumes again from 7 - 11 September, with the action livestreamed throughout on Hickstead.TV and ClipMyHorse.TV. Admission and parking is free to spectators.