Equestrianism: Whitaker maintains stranglehold: Reward for Roddy's Revenge as German makes mistake

JOHN WHITAKER kept his family's grip on show jumping successes this week when he won yesterday's Redland Roof Tiles July Stakes on the opening day of the Royal International Horse Show.

Whitaker had won at the Royal Show on Tuesday and he finished second to his brother, Michael, there on Wednesday.

Two German riders - Jurgen Kraus and Ralf Runge, both newcomers to Hickstead - were the only ones to join Whitaker in the jump-off. Kraus, the first to go on Pikora, misread the jump-off course because the figure 1 is written differently in Germany. He went straight to the second fence and was eliminated. 'Tomorrow is another day,' he said, without rancour.

Whitaker followed with a fast clear round on Roddy's Revenge and, although Runge was also faultless on Goliath, the German was unable to match the Yorkshireman's time. 'We're both really proud to be here. We never thought we'd be lucky enough to be invited,' Runge said after collecting his second prize. He grinned before adding: 'It's a shame that Jurgen can't read and I'm too slow.'

John Renwick, 22, registered his ninth victory at Hickstead this year when he won the earlier Redland Roof Tiles Chase on Robert Smith's former mount, Clover.

Results, Sporting Digest, page 35