Horse Of The Year 2014: Hello Sanctos
2014, the Chinese Year Of The Horse, undoubtedly belonged to the 13-year-old gelding Hello Sanctos owned by Dame Harris and Lady Kirkham and ridden by Britain’s Scott Brash. Winner of six major CSI5* Grand Prix, including a record-breaking three Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, Sanctos has helped Brash retain his World No1 position for over a year – the first rider to do so since Germany’s Marcus Ehning in 2008. On the 2014 Tour alone, Sanctos collected nearly €500,000 in prize money and provided Scott with all but one of the results he needed to claim the Longines Global Championship title for the second consecutive year. Having dominated the showjumping world over the past 12 months, the pair are fast becoming the stuff of legend.
Legendary partnerships between a horse and rider are one of the most beautiful aspects of showjumping. At the very top level of the sport such deep-rooted relationships are not that common, but when they occur, it is truly something to behold. The bond of understanding and trust that such partnerships are built on never fail to capture the imagination of the millions of equestrian fans worldwide. Most famous of all those unique bonds was between Britain’s John Whitaker and his grey wonder-horse Milton – the first show jumper ever to win over £1million in prize money.
Scott Brash and Hello Sanctos are well on the way to becoming the most successful partnership of their era. Whitaker and Milton achieved great things together between 1985 and 1994. As well as numerous Grand Prix, the pair won European Individual Gold, two European Team Golds, World Team Silver, and World and European Individual Silvers. After just three years together, Scott and Sanctos have an Olympic Team Gold, European Team Gold, European Individual Bronze and two Longines Global Champions Tour Championship titles.
Scott Brash is always quick to praise his ‘horse of a lifetime’, and rightly so. But without Scott’s cool and calm riding style Sanctos might not have become the prolific winner he is today. Though the bay gelding looks to be a simple enough ride, he is undoubtedly a sensitive partner in need of careful management both in and out of the competition arena. Scott’s immense talent as a horseman has helped him to create a strong bond of trust with the super-careful Sanctos and that is what has helped them to be so dominant in 2014.
Scott has voiced his intentions to defend his Longines Global Champions Tour title in 2015 and we very much look forward to welcoming him and Sanctos back to the series in its 10th Anniversary Year.
PR:GCT