The final speed class of the Show – showcased some of the most exciting riders in the sport. Only the 10 best from the initial round would proceed to the jump-off, so competitors needed to keep an eye on the clock as well as jump clear. By the halfway point, only four partnerships had produced a faultless round, leaving those with a quick four faults anxiously waiting to see if they had done enough. However, another six combinations, including the uncle-and-nephew duo of John and Donald Whitaker, mastered the 12-combination course.
Riders returned in reverse order of merit from the first round, meaning Julien Epaillard – World No. 10 and one of the fastest in the sport – was first into the arena. However, four faults at the Champagne Taittinger oxer kept him out of the top placings. Next to jump, Darragh Kenny, with the long-striding gelding Chaccossini, set the pressure on the remaining combinations with a time of 33.13 seconds. None of the remaining riders could match Kenny’s pace; however, Donald Whitaker came closest to Kenny’s time to claim second place, with last year’s class winner Lorenzo de Luca taking third. John Whitaker and Ben Maher rounded out the top five, taking fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Speaking after the class, Kenny said: “I was quite worried I wasn’t going to make it into the second round as I hadn’t done the turn to the last line that most people did, and that left me quite slow, so in the second round I thought I’d better do the opposite! He has a huge stride, so I could do one less in the first line, one less across the middle, which nobody else was able to do, and one less to the last – he’s very careful and he’s very brave, so you can rely on him.”
On Chaccossini, Kenny continued: “This is my second show with him – I took him to one CSI2* show where he won the ranking class and then I brought him here. He’s a really cool horse, he’s fun, he’s easy to ride, he’s not complicated at all, so I’m really enjoying him.”
