View our full Blenheim Sunday photo gallery here
Francis Whittington deservingly enjoys his first CCI3* win
Following the CCI3* final horse inspection where all horses presented were accepted, 29 combinations made their way to the Marlborough arena for the morning session of the final show jumping phase.
Australian riders Andrew Hoy and Paul Tapner were in this group; Andrew riding Lanfranco had eight faults and four on Cheeky Calimbo whilst Paul Tapner had a rude awakening to the day riding Up InThe Air, finding himself down on the floor and eliminated at the second fence. He was fine but a third placing in the CIC3*later in the day may have gone some way to easing the morning’s misfortune
“Mornings are not my favourite time” he observed ruefully
Francis (above) put the pressure on William (below) with a clear round
After the CIC3* cross country finished the CCI3* show jumping re-commenced with the top 25 riders. It was a fitting finale to the whole event that went right to the wire but it was a very popular win for Francis Whittington on Catherine Witt’s Easy Target
With only 0.8 penalties between the leader William Fox-Pitt riding Freddie Mac and Francis, a clear round from Francis and Easy Target put the pressure on the great man. William very nearly clinched the deal but the third last fence fell and Francis won his first ever CCI3*. William however was delighted with Freddie Mac, as he told us afterwards, although is now focused on becoming a father for the fourth time with his wife Alice due to deliver in the next few days
William Fox-Pitt
It was also a big result for the third placed Jodie Amos riding Wise Crack, finishing a successful weekend with a clear show jumping round. Jodie and Francis were very happy to be in the winner's press conference, which the lovely Catherine Witt, owner of Easy Taget, also joined in on
