AMELIA Brennan-Vaccaro, from near Thirsk, riding her British Showjumping registered pony High Flyer, managed to beat off 28 other competitors to take the top slot in the Royal Highland JC/JD Qualifier at a recent Junior British Showjumping Show at Richmond Equestrian Centre.

Of the 29 starters, 7 managed to negotiate the tough track built by Alan Mewse to jump clear and proceed to the jump off over a shortened course. Knowing that the top three would pick up a qualification for the prestigious Liz Fox JC/JD final to be held at the Royal Highland Show in June, meant that the stakes were high.

Amelia was drawn 4th, right in the middle of the jump off, with the pressure mounting when the first three to go had a fence down each, meaning a clear round at this stage would put her in a commanding position. Well the pair delivered a perfect round to leave every fence up and take the lead. With three still to go however, qualification was not yet a certainty. The next three jockeys must have felt the extra pressure placed on them by Amelia posting the double clear, that each of them failed to wrestle the first slot away from High Flyer and the class was won, with automatic qualification to the Royal Highland secured.

Amelia said: “This is our first 1st together since I got Casper (High Flyer’s stable name) last June and it couldn’t have been a better time to produce a great round. He is simply the best. We are looking forward to our trip to Edinburgh for the Royal Highland Show in June. We will have been together a year when we compete at the Final so perhaps we could celebrate our Anniversary in even more style!”

High Flyer had also qualified for the Blue Chip Winter Championships at the same show at Richmond EC. The Winter Championships take place in April. Let’s hope High Flyer continues to fly high during the rest of 2018.