Edited press release from The All England Jumping Course

Donald Whitaker became the fourth member of his famous family to lift the iconic Agria King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead, after heading an all-British podium in Sunday's CSIO5* 1.60m Grand Prix. 

Riding the 11-year-old mare Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky x Clearway), Whitaker delivered a blisteringly quick jump-off round to win the same title that cousin Robert Whitaker claimed at last year’s edition of the show. Once again Hickstead proved happy hunting ground for the Whitaker family dynasty, with both John and Robert being part of the winning team in the Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain two days earlier.

The 68-year-old John Whitaker and Equine America Unick du Francport (Zandor x Helios de La Cour II) were also one of 10 horse-and-rider combinations to jump clear in the first round of this historic Grand Prix, but the British legend’s hopes of landing a fourth King George were dashed in the jump-off when he knocked the first part of the combination at fence three. Brazil’s Luciana Lossio and Lady Louise Jmen (Landario Jmen x Calisco Jmen) delivered the first of the clear rounds, setting a very fast pace of 46.76sec.

Next into Hickstead’s International Arena was the reigning Olympic champion Ben Maher on Enjeu de Grisien (Toulon x Andimao) who already has a King George-title under his belt having won in 2013 with Tripple X II. The Herts-based rider took the tightest of lines to shave half a second of Luciana’s time, guaranteeing a British win.

But Donald Whitaker's mare had looked fast in the first round, and in the jump-off he really let loose with a relentless pace throughout, crossing the finish in 46.12sec, just 0.1 of a second quicker than Maher. Maher’s Nations Cup teammate Tim Gredley came in last in the jump-off with his Nations Cup mount Medoc Du Toxandria (Der Senaat 111 x Kelvin de Sainte Hermelle), and he looked like he was going to win only to take a pull before the last that left him fractionally behind Ben on 46.26sec, slotting into third. France's Nina Mallevaey and Dynastie de Beaufour (Diamant de Semilly x Cassini I) finished fifth in 48.82, behind Lossio in fourth.