IRISH Horse World contributor Ruth Loney had the privilege of attending the Rabat leg of the Morocco Royal Tour, where she picked up plenty of ‘paddock chat’ including the following.

British rider Joe Whitaker competed on the Morocco Royal Tour as an individual and was part of the third-placed Nations’ cup team with Chloe Aston and Jane Annett. It was his sister, Ellen Whitaker, who produced the talented mare Spacecake (Stakkatol x Kannan), which belonged to former Dublin native and now Yorkshire-based Tilly Shaw; Spacecake returned this year to the Moroccan Tour having competed in the Olympics with Saudi rider Khaled Almobty. She was part of the winning Saudi team, which clinched the Olympic qualifier two years ago in Qatar and on Sunday’s winning nations’ cup team.