Derry's David Simpson stormed to victory at Saturday's feature class, the Queen’s Cup, at the Longines Royal International Horse Show.
Five riders made it through to the jump-off, with Simpson the penultimate rider to go.
Riding the 11-year-old grey mare Chessy 17, he posted a clear round in a time of 47.85 seconds to go ahead of Holly Smith and Lammy Beach.
Last to go was the former Hickstead Derby winner Phillip Miller, who posted the fastest time of the day with 46.51 seconds, but four faults at the final fence cost them the win and relegated them to fourth place.
Simpson is a Hickstead regular having previously been based here with Breen Equestrian. He now lives locally in Horsham, sharing a yard with fellow showjumper Louise Pavitt – the pair are getting married in two weeks’ time.
“I have to keep winning classes to pay for the wedding - it certainly keeps you hungry,” he laughed afterwards.
It was a good day for Ireland, with Cork's Billy Twomey scoring a valuable double of international wins.
He won the Bunn Leisure Salver with Diaghilev, before taking the British Speed Classic with Thomas. The in-form Irishman has now won three international classes at this year’s Longines Royal International Horse Show.
Seven riders made it through to the jump-off in the Bunn Leisure Salver, with five of these producing double clears. Such was Twomey's swiftness round the International Arena in the jump-off, he finished 1.49 seconds faster than the always impressive Guy Williams, who took second.
“I didn't think anyone had gone that fast, but I knew I had Guy to come after me, so I had to put a marker down,” said Twomey.
In the Speed Classic, he made the most of being drawn last to go. Twomey knocked British Olympic team member Ben Maher down to second place with a superbly judged round on Thomas, a nine-year-old bay gelding.
The time difference was incredibly tight, with just one-hundredth of a second dividing the pair, but it was Twomey who prevailed.
