ANOTHER festive London International Horse Show came to a close on Monday evening with the perfect ending for the home public with a British winner of the five-star Turkish Airlines London Grand Prix, while the World Cup qualifier also stayed on home soil.

The feature 1.60m Grand Prix on Monday night attracted the world’s best show jumpers with only four of the starting 31 making it through to the second round over Bernardo Costa Cabral’s testing track. All four were different nationalities, including Ireland’s Denis Lynch with the eight-year-old Dark Chocolate.

Britain’s Matt Sampson, now based in Canada and on a great run of form, was first to go with Ebolensky and set the target in 31.88 which would ultimately be good enough for victory. Sweden’s Angelie von Essen was next to go but faulted one with Cochella to finish third. Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca also had a fence down with Curcuma Il Palazzetto to slot into second place.

That left just Lynch to deny Sampson of the win and while the Tipperary native has won some of the biggest Grands Prix in the world, the eight-year-old was green against the clock and finished with eight faults for fourth place.

Sampson was ecstatic to win on home soil. “It is absolutely incredible, honestly I can’t believe it, it’s a dream come true. It’s special for my owners, the Evison family, too. They’ve had Ebolensky from a foal and I’ve ridden her since she was seven. She grew up in England and has been in England for most of her career, so to win this class is absolutely amazing,” the 32-year-old commented.

“Being British, competing here is what we dream of when we’re growing up and to actually win is unbelievable!”

Brilliant Brash

On Sunday night, Britain’s Scott Brash set the ExCel arena alight when producing a spectacular victory with Hello Jefferson at the eighth leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Western European League.

Just seven of the 37 starters managed to unravel the questions over the first-round track set by Costa Cabral, and in a sensational jump-off it was Germany’s Daniel Deusser who clinched runner-up spot with Killer Queen VDM while young British star Jodie Hall McAteer wowed the home crowd when finishing third with Salt ’n Peppa.

Going third in the jump-off, Brash and the 13-year-old gelding, owned by his longtime supporters Lady Harris and Lady Kirkham, set the standard when clear in 39.67 seconds to raise the bar. His run to the last was breathtaking, Hello Jefferson easily leaving a stride out although Brash said afterwards he wondered if he might have been even quicker.

“The fences came up good. I was actually trying to go one less stride from fence one to two but at the same time I have to make sure Jefferson is not too quick at the start of the course because he does gets sharp, but I think it was a good balance overall. The double came up well, he jumped amazing and when I let him run to the last he’s so careful that I can trust him and it paid off,” explained the 37-year-old Scotsman.

He was followed by Deusser and Killer Queen VDM who looked seriously threatening until a bit cautious down the last line before breaking the beam just 0.06 seconds slower. Second-last to go, Ireland’s Denis Lynch and the 10-year-old Cornets Iberio posted four faults in 41.65 for sixth place.

Last to go was a crowd favourite in 22-year-old Jodie Hall McAteer. Setting off with gusto, the pair produced a brilliant round in 40.14 to finish third, just ahead of three-time Olympian Maikel van der Vleuten.

Brash described Hello Jefferson as “an incredible horse, he has all the attributes you need to win any Grand Prix in the world so it’s just about trying to control his sharpness.

“He is becoming more the finished article now. He’s more settled in a big atmosphere and he’s starting to really enjoy it.”