Young rider becomes the Queen of Hickstead

A 21-year-old rising star beat the world’s best at Hickstead today (August 1) to claim the coveted Templant Events Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

A win for the girls

Up-and-coming young rider Chloe Winchester wiped the floor in the historic class, bringing 12-year-old Avoca Valkyrie home a whopping three seconds faster than the competition in an edge-of-your-seat jump-off.

The prestigious event, traditionally limited to lady riders, was opened to both sexes in 2008 and for the last four years has been dominated by male winners.

But Chloe’s impressive performance has put a woman’s name back on the trophy.

Keep kicking on

Three men and three women went head to head against the clock in the jump-off, and three-time winner Tina Fletcher set the pace with a fast clear on Hello Sailor.

When Tim Davies and reigning champion Trevor Breen picked up four faults, it was up to either Kerry Brennan or the Suffolk-based 21-year-old to do it for girls.

Chloe was easily the quickest, but she was far from safe as 2013 Derby winners Phillip Miller and Caritiar Z were last to go.

“My plan was just to keep going forward, I knew Phillip was after me so I thought just keep kicking on,” said Chloe.

“I think I made up the time with the turns and I went straight across the oxers. I obviously did more kicking and flapping than Phillip.”

Dream come true

The rider said it was a “dream come true” and the biggest win of her career with her horse of a lifetime ‘Twiggy’ who has shown her the ropes at 1.40m level.

“I am very surprised to have won,” she added. “We came up here last night and it couldn’t have gone better really.

“I have never jumped this class before. It’s such a prestigious class – it’s an honour to jump here and to win is even better. I am aiming for the Young Rider Europeans next and we will have Olympia in the winter.”