A successful start!
His very first appearance at the Concours Hippique International de Genève will remain a fond memory for him: British rider Donald Whitaker, nephew of his famous uncles John and Michael, confidently rode his grey mare Millfield Colette to victory ahead of the other favourites in the coveted Trophée de Genève, the main event at the start of the CHI.
As is well known, the Trophée de Genève is more than just a legendary competition at Palexpo. For the riders, it is the first opportunity to qualify for Sunday's Rolex Grand Prix. An opportunity that the 49 pairs competing in this important tournament tonight did not want to miss. ‘It's a challenging course,’ explained Switzerland's Bryan Balsiger a few minutes before the start of the competition, speaking into the microphone held by Alban Poudret, the CHI's sporting director, alongside Gérard Lachat, who designed the course together with Grégory Bodo. All riders had to demonstrate finesse to reach the finish line without any faults!
The Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping title holder, the only rider in the world to have already won this Grand Slam, was the first to compete: Britain's Scott Brash, two-time Olympic team champion, gave the audience a demonstration of his riding skills on his trusty Hello Jefferson. Only the fifteenth pair made it into the jump-off with a clear round, namely Austria's Max Kühner on EIC Daloubet. In total, nine pairs found the key to this first course. It is noteworthy that another seven riders remained clear but were too slow and incurred a few small time penalties.
A unique jump-off!
The jump-off provided a great sporting moment. Scott Brash was the first to start, but he was a little too ambitious (8 penalty points). Max Kühner set the first reference time of 50.02 seconds, but this was immediately beaten by Germany's Christian Ahlmann and his agile Dourkhan Hero Z with 46.73 seconds. Could this time be beaten? Everyone tried. The stands even shook when Swiss rider Edouard Schmitz and his horse Gamin van't Naastveldhoff, who had achieved an ultra-fast time of 44.01 seconds (5th place), knocked down the last fence! But in the end, it was the last starter, Britain's Donald Whitaker, who prevailed with his incredible Millfield Colette in 45.15 seconds. A beautiful victory and genuine joy on his first visit to Geneva.
"I'm a little overwhelmed by my emotions," said Donald Whitaker, "but yes, it's incredible. I've dreamed of a victory like this for a long time, and to achieve it on my first day here is unbelievable, fantastic. When I walked the course, I found it very difficult, especially for a competition on the first day, to be honest. This is my first time in Geneva. I've always dreamed of coming here. Of course, it's a very prestigious competition. It's a Grand Slam tournament, so you know it's important and difficult. But when I arrived, I was a little shocked: I realised that I was really here with the best riders and horses in the world!"
"In the jump-off," the Brit continued, "there were only nine of us. That meant we all had to give it our all! I was perhaps a little slow at the start, but then I had a very good turn towards the wall and my mare just flew over it. The start of the tournamentcouldn't have been better. My mare is incredible. Whenever it counts, she seems to be successful, and sometimes I don't know how she does it! Now she'll probably rest until Sunday. I'll be riding my girlfriend's horse, Arlo de Blondel, and DiCaprio in the competitions tomorrow and on Saturday."
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