Stevens clocks another Hickstead title just days after Burghley win

Just a few days after winning the Defender Burghley Horse Trials with Chilli Knight, event rider Gemma Stevens continued her run of form by winning Friday morning's Breen Equestrian All England 1.40m Open at Hickstead with Warrior Special.

Gemma is no stranger to success at the All England Jumping Course, which she counts as her local showground. This summer she won the Ashby Underwriting Eventers’ Challenge for a third time and rode Warrior Special to victory in the UNIBED High-Performance Equine Bedding BS Winter Grades B&C Championship, both at the Agria Royal International Horse Show.

Gemma, who competes in both eventing and showjumping, said she visualised the showground when going into the final showjumping at Burghley: “My husband Gary said, ‘Just imagine that you are going into the ring at Hickstead’, and that is what I did.”

Twenty of the 63 starters made it into the jump-off, with Gemma the penultimate rider to go against the clock. Her time of 63.22sec saw her take the lead from last week’s ClipMyHorse.TV Sussex Cup winners, Kara Chad and Ciao Bello NVE Z (64.12sec).

Last to go in the jump-off was Hickstead-based Shane Breen on CSF Thomascourt Zena, and they crossed the tape just 0.04sec behind Gemma to take second place, dropping Kara to third.

Warrior Special is a nine-year-old stallion by Warrior. “We’re absolutely thrilled with him today. He's such a professional, and, for a big horse, he’s actually deceptively quick,” said Gemma. “He answered every question perfectly today.”

Shane also finished runner-up in Thursday’s edition of the Breen Equestrian All England 1.40m Open, this time on BE Alcantara. Young Scottish showjumper Fraser Reed took the top spot, riding Matt Pike’s SES Jumeirah.

It was a huge jump-off, with 40 of the 82 starters jumping clear in the first round, though only half of these managed to produce a double clear against the clock. But none could better Fraser’s time of 29.60sec, thanks to his ‘very fast’ nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding.

“I’m really happy with SES Jumeirah, it’s a great class to win to start the week,” said 25-year-old Fraser, who is based at Matt Pike’s yard in East Sussex. “I've been riding SES Jumeirah for about a year and a half now, he's been in Matt’s stable since he was five.”

Both Gemma and Fraser will be among those lining up for Sunday's feature class, the Breen Equestrian All England Grand Prix.

Despite being first of 10 to go in the jump-off in the Shaw Farm Stud Ltd All England Five Year Old Championship, Sophie Lincoln produced the fastest time to win on Regal Touch X.

“Derek [McCoppin] rode him as a four-year-old, and I was lucky to steal the ride off him this month – and he’s been brilliant,” said Sophie. “I know he's careful, and he always wants to leave the jumps up, so I just kicked on and hoped for the best, and he did everything I asked.”

In the Shaw Farm Stud Ltd All England Five Year Old Championship, Ireland's Billy Twomey took the top spot with the Irish Sport Horse mare Creevyquinn Thomascourt. 

"It's always very nice to win at Hickstead, it's a prestigious class and to win the Six Year Old championship is a feather in any horse's cap," said Billy. "I'm delighted for her owner John Chadwick, who is a big supporter of mine, and I'm really happy with the evolution of the mare and where she's going. She's generally very competitive with an excellent show record, so I knew if I did by job today she would be there or thereabouts."

Nine horses jumped clear to share the honours in the All England Four Year Old Championship.

For full results click here.