Galway’s Jessica Burke and the Irish Sport Horse Express Trend won an all-female jump-off in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Hickstead on Saturday.
With five of the 28 starters going through to a jump-off, Sally Goding and Spring Willow set the pace with a clear in 40.51seconds.
Three poles fell for Gemma Ellison with Helsinki VDL, before the 2009 winner Laura Renwick and Iron Lady Van De Kranenburg knocked almost 2 seconds off the lead time.
Allana Clutterbuck and Vykinbay then had a fence down, leaving Galway’s Jessica Burke to chase the top prize.
First Queen Elizabeth II Cup Win
The Irish rider took 0.83 seconds off Laura Renwick’s time to land the Queen Elizabeth II Cup for the first time.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet to be honest!” said a delighted Jessica. “When you look back on all the days I spent at home watching Hickstead on the TV, you grow up dreaming of things like this, so to put my name on the trophy is very special.”
Former maths teacher Burke moved to England from her native Galway five years ago to ride for the Arion Stud in Hampshire. She immediately made an impact in the sport, winning her first international Grand Prix soon after making the move across the water.
The Horse of a Lifetime
With Liam Nicholas’ 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse Express Trend, Jessica has gone on to have five-star success and represented Ireland on Nations Cup teams. The pair were also the winners of the LeMieux All-England Grand Prix at Hickstead’s September Tour in 2023.
“He is amazing, I don’t really have the words for him. He is the horse of a lifetime for me, he’s changed my life in a lot of ways and taught me some good lessons, so to win this with him is really special,” she added.
Jessica now has her sights set on a new Hickstead ambition – to be selected for the Irish team for the Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain. “I definitely want to jump on the team next year – that’s the next target for sure. It’s an amazing arena and an amazing show,” she said.
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