A delighted Lucy Jackson wins the €18.000 euro cheque
New Zealand’s Lucy Jackson with Superstition, finished at the top of the podium today, winning the Millstreet leg of the Event Rider Masters. She was absolutely delighted with this he first ERM win
“I’ve never been on the top spot of a podium, and I can’t tell you how good it feels – it’s absolutely fantastic,”
Lucy’s came into today in equal fourth place after dressage, then moved up into third after show jumping. A fast clear round country picking up only 2 seconds aver the optimum time, allowed her to take the top position.
Though she didn’t deliver one of the three clear rounds inside the time, Lucy added a tiny two seconds to the 6:05 optimum time, allowing her to take the win by a 0.3 penalty margin.
Alex Bragg, Lucy Jackson and Sam Watson
Sam Watson and Imperial Sky managed to make the time, so went on to take second place for the home nation. They delivered a 27.5 first-phase mark and were one of only two combinations to finish on their dressage score, catapulting them from seventh place to the podium after Sam romped home exactly on the optimum time.
Sam stated afterwards “I’m happy because I didn’t leave anything behind out there, and the horse didn’t either – so I was beaten, I didn’t lose [the win],” he said. “It’s great to be here, on home soil and with an Irish crowd and everything.”
But Sam, who juggles running a busy yard with spearheading equestrian statistics company EquiRatings, was quick to pass the honours on to wife Hannah, much better known as Sparkles.
“There’s one person, and she’s about half a mile away right now, looking after the horse – Sparks is amazing. She leaves tonight to go to the European Championships and she doesn’t get to see our kids; she’s on the road for ten days,”. “She just loves the horses, and they always come first – except when we’re home, then it’s kids and horses. She’s incredible – so thank you so much to her.”
Alex Bragg and Zagreb was the only other combination to finish on their dressage score to climb from ninth to third. They were the the second combination of the day to make the time, after Chris Burton – who is rated as the fastest man in the world – sailed home at ease within the optimum cross-country time.
Ireland’s Sarah Ennis went into the cross country in the top slot (after Oli Townend decided to withdraw Ballagmor Class before cross country. Sarah dropped down to fourth place after she and Horseware Stellor Rebound (Rocket) added 2.8 time penalties across the country. Noted for been exceptionally fast, Sarah seemed to have not pushed Rocket too fast as this was their comeback . They were part of the Irish silver medal team at WEG last year, and this was Rockets first run since then. as part of Ireland’s silver medal-winning team at the World Equestrian Games last year, it’s a promising return to competition with her long-term partner.
