Equestrianism: Renwick makes remarkable strides on Fuehrer
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Your support makes all the difference.Nothing could eclipse the brilliance of John Whitaker's win with Lord Z on Thursday night, but John Renwick succeeded in setting the NEC Arena alight yesterday when he rode Brookend Fuehrer to take the Finn Forest Hunter Woodshavings Cup.
The horse has a short stride and is unsuited to the demands of the more spacious outdoor arenas but he is as nippy as a terrier indoors, as he proved when winning the Speed Horse of the Year last October at Wembley. The 30-year-old Essex rider, who has competed in every Horse of the Year Show since the age of 11, defeated Angelique Hoorn of the Netherlands on Lady Carthago, with whom she won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Hickstead this year.
Yet Whitaker's victory remained the taking point. It was achieved with electrifying speed and precision on the 12-year-old bay stallion Lord Z, who first appeared at the Hickstead Derby meeting in August.
Since then the pair have been quick to strike up such a wonderful rapport that they are being hailed as prospective medal winners at next year's European Championships in Germany. "It's a crying shame that Lord Z isn't qualified to compete in any other classes here," Derek Ricketts, the Great Britain performance manager, said yesterday.
Having dropped back in the international rankings after his cerebral haemorrhage in 2000 and a subsequent lack of top-class horses, Whitaker does not expect to jump in a World Cup qualifier before Olympia in December. "I'll have to climb back up the rankings," he said. "I'm not giving up yet."
HORSE OF THE YEAR SHOW (NEC, Birmingham): Finn Forest Hunter Woodshavings Cup: 1 Brookend Fuehrer (J Renwick, GB) 47.70sec; 2 Lady Carthago (A Hoorn, Neth) 49.20; 3 Rex (M Armstrong, GB) 49.91. Blue Chip Junior Newcomers Championship: 1 Blue Amber (H Penny) clear, 33.22; 2 T-Adh-Leis (L Pavitt) clear, 33.53; 3 Scarlet Adventure (C Saunders) clear, 35.48. Aon Six-Year-Old Championship: 1 Oakhill Supreme (R Smith) clear, 30.79; 2 Witches Touch of Fleur de Lys (D Lampard) clear,33.53; 3 Pagina (B Twomey) clear, 34.16.
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