Pavitt has ideal prep run for Lanaken

Nicole Pavitt had the perfect preparation run for the World Breeding Championships in Lanaken, winning the Billy Stud Auction All England Six Year Old Championship today at Hickstead with Big Star Of Follyfoot Z.

Thirteen of the 30 finalists had progressed to the jump-off, with Nicole securing the win in 34.65sec with Sally Jobson-Scott’s Big Star mare, ahead of David Simpson and Billy Whiskey (35.81sec).  

“She’s been fantastic,” said Nicole. “She has qualified for HOYS at Newcomers and did the Young Horse Championships here last month, and this was our last preparations for Lanaken in 10 days’ time.”

Though the rain made conditions challenging, Nicole praised the showground for the ground conditions. “The ground has held up remarkably, so fair play to the team at Hickstead, there are not many places that could take that amount of rain,” she added.

In the Five Year Old final, Leesa Long and Lord Diamant held off a strong challenge from Scottish rising star Sandy McLean, who finished second and third with Arturo De Kalvarie Z and Callboy Of Picobello Z respectively. It was the closest of finishes, with 0.06sec dividing the top two.

“He was amazing in there, he loves that arena – he jumped double clear in the Four Year Olds here a year ago,” said Leesa. “I’m really excited for his future and his six-year-old campaign.”

This year, seven combinations jumped double clear to share the honours in the All England Four Year Old Final.

James Smith has been on formidable form at Hickstead this summer, and he added another title to his collection when winning the Breen Equestrian 1.40m Open – the second of two qualifiers for Sunday’s All England Grand Prix.

At July’s Agria Royal International Horse Show he won both the Equine Giveaways Royal International Stakes and the UNEX Group Speed Classic with the talented mare Juno Rose 23. This time they headed a 38-strong line-up to take a third Hickstead title.

“She seems to love it here – it’s her second show at Hickstead, and her third win out of four starts,” he said. “Obviously we had wet conditions but it didn’t seem to bother her at all. She’s naturally very quick so I just kept everything tight and it worked out well.”

The pair are now aiming to continue their run of success in Sunday’s Grand Prix, but they’ll face some tough opposition, including Thursday’s 1.40m victors Lucy Townley and Lizzie Bunn’s Billy Be Boss.

With heavy rain throughout the class, only two combinations managed to go double clear, with Lucy crossing the finish more than 2sec faster than Nicole Pavitt and Casque d’Or.

“I’m delighted to win this class with Billy Be Boss, he’s been a really special young horse and we’ve had great fun with him,” said Lucy. “He’s been knocking on the door for the past few weeks. Last week in the Grand Prix he had a quick time but had the last fence down in the jump-off which I felt I was unlucky, so it was brilliant to come back with the win here.”