Peter Charles wins the Longines King George V Trophy

The historical Longines King George V Gold Cup with it’s lucrative £162,500 prize fund was won by Sandra Cordiner and Team Murkas impressive black stallion Murkas Pall Mall H at Hickstead this afternoon. Ridden and produced by British team rider and mainstay, Peter Charles in front of a home crowd, the competition proved to be a superb climax to the 2009 Royal International Horse Show.

In a competition that saw 47 of some of the worlds best horses come forward to contest it. Course designer Bob Ellis set a course that in sheer size and scale alone would be enough to make your knees buckle before evening considering the technicalities of it. With only seven competitors finishing the first round on that lucrative score of zero faults and with three of them being British, the home crowd were on the edge of their seats in anticipation of a home win.

Being first to go, Peter Charles took the approach of going for not only a clear but also in in a fast time of 53.50 in the hope that others would then be forced against the clock and potentially have poles down. This strategy certainly worked as he proved to return the sole double clear of the competition with the only Tim Stockdale and Ben Maher managing to return in a fractionally faster time.

“I really can’t praise Pall Mall enough, it was a difficult course out there today and he’s come back producing the only double clear of the competition – what more can you ask for” said Peter before continuing “In Pall Mall, I not only have a great horse but also a great owner in Sandra Cordiner and Team Murka I'm sure they'll all be as thrilled as I am with Pall Mall’s tremendous and outstanding achievement today”.

With Great Britain taking the top three positions it was also good to see Tim Stockdale back competing with Sue & John Bosher’s tremendous grey mare Fresh Direct Corlato. Having put in a superb performance at the Beijing Olympics last year she then took some time out for an embryo transfer and has only just returned to competing. Receiving an incredibly warm welcome from the home crowd she finished in the fastest time of 53.14 but with an unfortunate four faults was relegated to second place behind Peter.

In third place, and just a fraction of a second slower than Tim finishing in a time of 53.19 was Ben Maher riding Michael and Emma Philips impressive bay gelding Robin Hood W. A combination who have consistently achieved for Great Britain during this season, again it was an unlucky four faults that resulted in their third place finish.

Results (27.07.09)

CSIO5* Hickstead

Class Nº08 – Grand Prix – AM5 1,60m

1º Peter Charles (Gbr) / Murkas Pall Mall / 0 / 0 – 53,5
2º Tim Stockdale (Gbr) / Corlato / 0 / 4 – 53,14
3º Ben Maher (Gbr) / Robin Hood W / 0 / 4 – 53,19
4º Olivier Guillon (Fra) / Lord De Theize / 0 / 4 – 54,59
5º Pieter Devos (Bel) / Utopia Van De Donkhoeve / 0 / 4 – 57,44
6º Harrie Smolders (Hol) / Oliver Q / 0 / 4 – 59,98
7º Frederik Cattebeke (Bel) / Queros De Bioagrico / 0 / 8 – 57,3
8º Janne-Fredrike Meyer (Ale) / Lambrasco / 1 – 91,39
9º Robert Smith (Gbr) Vangelis S / 1 – 91,4
10º Geoff Billington (Gbr) / Rosinus / 1 – 91,85