Earlier today The Snowflake Stakes, held over one round, provided a fast and thrilling competition for the packed crowds. First to set the pace was yesterday’s winner of The Christmas Tree Stakes, Darragh Kenny, who produced a clear round in a time of 57.38 seconds.
His lead, however, was quickly usurped by former World No. 1 Kevin Staut, who, partnered with the talented nine-year-old gelding Queen’s Balou B, took the lead by 0.51 seconds. Just three horses later, Belgium’s Wilm Vermeir, winner of the first CSI-W5* Jumping class this week, utilized his mare’s natural speed to claim the provisional top spot. The remaining 13 combinations all tried to match the round set by Vermeir – France’s Julien Anquetin came closest, but was still over a second-and-a-half slower.
Last to go, Britain’s Jack Whitaker kept the home crowd’s hopes alive with a faster time, but sadly, four faults at the third to last fence, kept the young rider out of the top spots. His cousins Donald and Robert Whitaker, however, took fourth and fifth places, respectively.Discussing his winning round Vermeir said; “She’s a really fast horse and I had a quick round, so combining the two together made us very fast! I rode her mother and grandmother – I won a lot with her grandmother – so I know the family very well. I knew I had done a good round, but when I saw Jack go, I started to hesitate a bit! I’m having a great week – the atmosphere and the public here are unbelievable.”
