Success for Nicole Holmen at Bury Farm

Success for Nicole Holmen at Bury Farm

Nicole Holmen rises to the top in the Dodson & Horrell and World Class Programme Under 23 Championship qualifier at Bury Farm

Nicole Holmen claimed the top spot in the third Dodson & Horrell and World Class Programme Championship qualifier at Bury Farm, a week after taking second place at the Aintree qualifier with her mount Cochella, owned by Martin Dawes.

From a competitive class of 36 combinations, 10 riders progressed into the jump off after recording faultless first round clears over Paul Connor’s course, with three combinations going on to produce double clear rounds. Nicole was the first to go clear, stopping the clock in an impressive 36.40 seconds, finishing four seconds ahead of Amy Inglis, on board Wishes owned by Claire Inglis, who recorded a time of 40.77 seconds. Jack Whitaker claimed third with his father Michael Whitaker’s Stakkato De Fee, after posting a time of 41.97 seconds.

Amy Inglis also took fourth place with her very own Everyway after picking up just  four faults in 40.86 seconds whilst Emily Ward took fifth and sixth place with Doobally (owned by Michael Whitaker) and Remi Cavelleri (owned by Anne Bedford) respectively.  Seventh place went to Jordan Gann with Julia Gann’s Lakeland Dancer.

World Class Showjumping Performance Manager Di Lampard commented on the afternoon’s competition: “I thought the course was really good. Right from the first jump to the last oxer it was an even track and it was full up and it was a true test of riding the lines.”

“The winner was certainly a good winner and she was considerably faster as she took a risk into one of the fences and the others tried to look for points as well but ultimately I was impressed by the style of jumping on show.”

The next qualifier takes place on Friday 4 November at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre, Buckinghamshire.

The Championship is supported by Dodson & Horrell who is Europe’s leading equine feed manufacturer and a highly respected worldwide authority on animal nutrition and feeding. Dodson & Horrell’s involvement of the Under 23 British Championship demonstrates its history of support in equestrian sports across all levels, from sponsorship of the British Dressage Novice Championships, the British Showjumping Amateur & Veteran Championships and The Festival of British Eventing Novice Championship to title sponsorship of the iconic Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth International Horse Trials. In addition, as official supplier of nutrition to Equestrian Team GBR, Dodson & Horrell played a pivotal advisory role in the lead up to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The World Class Programme aims to provide Britain’s elite riders with the best preparation to represent Equestrian Team GBR on the international stage and is funded by National Lottery and Exchequer funds via UK Sport.

Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.