London Int. Horse Show Olympia (GBR): Marco flashes the Cash at the H&M Ivy Stakes

22 Dec 2013

Former European champion Marco Kutscher was at the height of his powers in the H & M Ivy Stakes, the last class on H & M day at Olympia, The London International Horse Show.

The leading German rider went in the earlier stages of an 11-horse jump-off but none of the subsequent riders could quite match his smooth turns on Madeleine Winter-Schulze’s Cash.

Michael Whitaker, who is having a good show, came nearest, finishing more than a second in arrears on Amai.

“It worked out really well for me,” said Marco. “I watched some of the others and knew what I had to do, which was to turn as tightly as I could from the first to the second fences – basically, if you missed there, you had had it.”

Marco explained that he now mainly keeps the 17-year-old gelding by Carthago for “fun” classes and may retire him next year. “Olympia is a great show. I haven’t been for a few years but the warm-up arena is now bigger and the schedule has changed which is great because you can bring three top horses and do a good class every day.”

Earlier in the evening, the packed crowd was treated to a visual feast of daring turns and speedy gallops in the H&M Mistletoe Stakes.

British rider Laura Renwick, who has taken over as H & M Leading Rider of Show, looked keen to make this class her second conquest of the week, this time with Beluga. However, her moment of glory was brief, snatched by fellow countryman William Funnell riding Billy Mexico.

“You would have thought some of those who followed would have gone flat out and caught me, but they just couldn’t make the turns,” said William. “Every time I turned a corner with him, there was a stride, plus he jumps fences on the angle easily.”

Billy Mexico is a breeding stallion and has covered around 50 mares this season. Like many horses at the Funnells’ Billy Stud, he started off his career under William’s eventer wife Pippa. “She jumped him at Royal Windsor Horse Show in May this year,” explained William. “Now he’s with me, I’ll be stepping him up a level.”

Source: Olympia Horse Show