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A joint win in the HOYS Accumulator

Sunday, 08 October 2017
CSI3* HOYS / Birmingham 2017

Photo (c) HOYS. Harrie Smolders and Mennell Watson, joint winners of the HOYS Accumulator. Photo (c) HOYS.

Dutch star Harrie Smolders underlined his quality as the HOYS Accumulator class thrilled a full house at Horse of the Year Show on Saturday. Harrie, the world-ranked number six rider who is fresh from being part of the Netherlands team that won last weekend's FEI Nations Cup final in Barcelona, shared first place with Britain's Mennell Watson.

The class sees riders collect points for each fence jumped, with a maximum score of 65. Any combinations finishing on that figure are then separated on time. Harrie, riding Cas 2 (Indoctro x Numero Uno), and Mennell on Whisper in the Wind (Cobretti x Mr Majestic), could not be split as they both clocked 49.12 seconds and each collected £5,900 for their efforts. Louise Saywell and Feigtling (Chicago Z x Darco) finished third, posting 65 points in 49.50 seconds, while Phillip Miller and Sussex Caretino (Caretino Glory x Hamilton) were fourth.

"It's always good to be here at Horse of the Year Show," Harrie said. "It is a great atmosphere, a great show and we love coming here. With the crowd here, you always want to be competitive, and I wanted to see how fast my horse could go. I am pleased with the win. This is a real show, which is why I like coming here. We cannot simulate this at home. Last weekend was fantastic, with the Nations Cup final - one of the highlights of our sport. I have had an amazing year, with the Nations Cup and also winning the Global Champions Tour series."

A French win in The Thistledown Stakes

Photo (c) HOYS. Titouan Schumacher and Oceane de Nantuel. Photo (c) HOYS.

Frenchman Titouan Schumacher continued his sparkling Horse of the Year Show debut by winning the Thistledown Stakes at Birmingham's Genting Arena. The Normandy-based rider finished second in Friday's Grandstand Welcome Stakes behind Irishman Anthony Condon, but he went one better as he returned to action on 15-year-old mare Oceane de Nantuel (Diamant de Semilly x Quidam de Revel). 

Seven combinations made it through to the jump-off, including five British riders - Helen Tredwell, William Funnell, Mennell Watson, John Whitaker and Robert Whitaker - but Titouan proved almost half a second quicker than anyone else.

The 23-year-old clocked 34.83 seconds, and Helen got closest on Larksong (Vangelis-S x Larino), posting 35.21 seconds, with William and Billy McCain (Cevin Z x Cruising) almost a further second behind. Titouan, who is based near top British rider Guy Williams in France, said: "It is my first time here. It is an amazing show, and I am really happy to be here. My horse is really fast that I won on today, and all the horses I have here are on really good form."

Titouan has already won more than £5,000 in prize money less than halfway through the international programme, and his current form suggests he could be a serious contender for Sunday's Leading Showjumper grand prix.

 


Source: Press release from Horse of the Year Show // Picture © Horse of the Year Show



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