Home-bred stallion shows electric turn of foot as power blackouts hit London ExCeL

Belgian showjumper Wilm Vermeir and his quality nine-year-old stallion Top Invest 313 Z lit up the international arena at the London International Horse Show, winning the CSI5* Ivy Stakes despite a power blackout interrupting the two-phase jumping class.

Localised power outages “beyond the control” of organisers had also affected the scheduling of the dressage grand prix presented by Bret Willson Dressage International Ltd and supported by Horse & Hound on Wednesday morning (18 December), the opening day of the London International (LIHS).

But Italian showjumper Francesco Turturtiello was midway round jumping the 1.50m track for the two-phase showjumping competition in the London ExCeL’s international arena when the lights suddenly went out briefly.

Fortunately the memorably named Chicken George 3 (and yes there really is a Chicken George 1 on the FEI database, we’re not sure about his second namesake though…) remained remarkably calm and Francesco quickly brought the nine-year-old back to a walk as the back-up generator kicked in and some low level lighting returned.

Unsure what to do, the Italian rode around earning the full support of the crowd, who were equally surprised to have been plunged into darkness, before the visiting rider was ushered out of the arena.

Blackouts at the London International Horse Show: “These things happen”

Commentators Steven Wilde and Jessica Kurten leapt into action and entertained the spectators while engineers set to work to restore the full stage lights.  After several Mexican waves and a rendition of Sweet Caroline, full illumination was restored and normal service resumed.

Hats off to the brilliant team working behind-the-scenes to ensure five-star jumping action at the London International Horse Show suffered little more than a couple of temporary pauses.

Francesco elected not to return to the ring, but drawn next was Wilm Vermeir, who had been in the warm-up arena when the blackout occurred. Remarkably unfazed, he and his home-bred son of Thunder VD Zuuthoeve blitzed round the timed section of the tw0-phase class, powering round a crucial inside turn and stopping the clock clear in an unbeatable 22.11sec, although just three-quarters of a second separated the top five riders.

“We all had to wait outside while they tried to fix it, but Francesco didn’t know whether to go back in. I said ‘I’m ready, I want to go, I’ll go’,” explained Wilm. “It’s unusual, but it didn’t affect us too much – these things happen.”

A home-bred stallion with star potential

Wilm Vermeir, who last competed at the London International at its old home of Olympia, said he was enjoying the atmosphere of its new venue and described winning the opening five-star jumping class of this year’s show as a “super start”.

“We always produced this horse quietly because we expected a lot from him,” said Wilm who, along with his wife, used to compete Top Invest’s dam, the Concorde mare Vesta Van Het Goor. This was the stallion’s first five-star success in what looks set to be a glittering career.

“It’s a nice story because we breed a bit but normally choose the same stallions. That year, though, we had to sell the good Thunder horse we had because we were building a new house, so I took the mare to Thunder instead. So it all worked and we’ve got a really great horse from it.”

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