Nifty Nicole nabs Tankard win on new ride

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Scottish rider Nicole Lockhead Anderson took the top spot in today’s ClipMyHorse.TV Derby Tankard with new ride Catino 10.

A total of 27 combinations came forward for the 1.50m world ranking class, with nine riders producing that crucial first round clear to go into the jump-off. Nicole was last to go, and she produced a perfectly-timed round to shave 1sec off the leading time, relegating Ireland’s David Simpson and Pjotr Van De Kruishoeve into second place. Watch their round here.

“I didn't actually see anybody go before me, but he's naturally a very fast horse – he's so careful and everything planned out perfectly,” said Nicole. “He loves this big arena, and it’s amazing to win here.”

She has only had the ride on the 10-year-old bay for a couple of months. “He just gets better and better,” she added. “He’s such a little character. He's only about 15.2hh but he's got so much jump and he's got a heart of a lion.”

Nicole is based in Kent, where she is stable rider for Tom and Jess Williams. “I am very lucky – I have some incredible horses to ride and I’m very grateful. I've got lots of nice young ones and I've got some really good older ones to jump these sort of classes, which is great.”

Her next stop is Friday’s Agria Derby Trial, and from there possibly a first tilt in the Al Shira’aa Derby. “We'll see how it goes. I haven't done the Derby and I'm very excited, it's an amazing class.”

Lockhead Anderson has been a prolific winner at Hickstead for the past few years – so what’s her secret? “I like going fast! And luckily so do the horses, and it’s nice when it pays off.”

Nicole narrowly missed out on a double when finishing second in today’s Stoner Jewellers Vase, riding Chatondo. It was James Whitaker and Just Call Me Henry who took the top prize, finishing more than 1.5sec quicker.

Drawn sixth to go out of 46 entries, James managed to put enough pressure on his rivals that none could match his winning time. “He won the 7 and 8 Year Old class at the Royal International here last year, and so this year, I thought I’d try him in bigger classes and see how he gets on,” James said. “He’s very, very good, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep him, because there are so many people looking for very good horses at the moment!”

For all today's results click here

The Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting takes place from 22-25 June. Tickets are available online or at the gate, and the action will also be shown live on Hickstead.TV and ClipMyHorse.TV.