Billy Twomey wins Longines King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead

Twomey had been the man to beat all week at Hickstead having already netted three victories in classes at the event, and he made the most of being drawn last with a powerful round on Lizziemary to shave almost half a second off the leading time.

It was an enthralling renewal of the historic class, with 48 of the world’s top riders coming forward to do battle for the feature Grand Prix class of the historic show.

A total of 13 riders went clear over Kelvin Bywater’s track in the first round, including British hopes Anna Power and Tim Stockdale.

USA’s Katherine Dinan and Nougat du Vallet produced the first double clear in 44.38 seconds as second to go in the jump-off, before Power and Blazer B were the next to jump clear three competitors later but they could not better Dinan’s time.

Stockdale and Fleur de L’Aube did however take the lead when knocking more than two seconds off the leading time with their clear round coming in a time of 41.91 seconds.

However Stockdale’s hopes of winning a second King George title ended when Ireland’s Bertram Allen on Molly Malone V shaved a quarter of a second off his time, coming home clear in 40.25 seconds for what was an eventual fourth place finish.

Hickstead-based Shane Breen produced by far the swiftest time of the competition on Golden Hawk, but four faults cost the Irishman his hopes of victory.

Wout-Jan Van Der Schans and Capetown (Oklund x Carlino) then took the lead from Allen in a time of 39.92 seconds, before a storming round by Lillie Keenan and Super Sox (Salito x Silvio I) in 40.05 seconds placed them right behind Wout-Jan on the leaderboard.

However Twomey and Lizziemary’s clear round in 39.46 seconds was the clincher.

Speaking afterwards, Twomey said “Ordinarily horses need to know that arena, but she’s really brave and has a big rangy gallop that covers the ground, so it suits her.

The mare was originally produced by British rider Emma-Jo Slater and Twomey added “She has done an unbelievable job and deserves credit.

“I was following the mare as a young horse and have a good relationship with her former owner Kim Barzilay – she gave me the horse on sale or return last October so I’m very grateful to her. She’s got another good horse in the yard at the moment so hopefully she’ll think of me!

“I’m just delighted how this mare performed – I’ve always felt she’s been knocking on the door, but not quite delivered. I’m very proud that she’s managed to win one of the most prestigious classes in the world.

“I had a good show in Dublin last week, where I was the leading rider – there is a lot to be said for when you’ve got your tail up and are full of confidence.”

Before his success in the Longines King George V Gold Cup, Twomey won both the Bunn Leisure Salver with Diaghilev before taking the British Speed Classic with Thomas.

Seven riders made it through to the jump-off in the Bunn Leisure Salver, with five of these producing double clears. Such was Billy’s swiftness round the International Arena in the jump-off, he finished 1.49sec faster than the always speedy Guy Williams, who took second place.

In the Speed Classic, Billy made the most of being drawn last to go, knocking British Olympic team member Ben Maher down to second place with a superbly judged round on Thomas. The time difference was incredibly tight, with just one-hundredth of a second dividing the two combination’s times.

To add to those successes, Twomey and Thomas had already won the Bunn Leisure Vase on Thursday, while he and Diaghilev formed part of Ireland’s second-placed team in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup, presented by Longines, on Friday.

There was further success for Ireland at Hickstead as David Simpson claimed the Templant Events Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Saturday.

Saturday’s feature class at the Longines Royal International Horse Show, the Queen’s Cup is only open to the highest-ranked national riders. Previously restricted to women only, it was opened up to both sexes in 2008 – and David became the fifth man to lift the historic trophy.

Five riders made it through to the jump-off with Simpson the penultimate rider to go. Riding the Chessy 17, he posted a clear round in a time of 47.85 seconds to go ahead of Holly Smith on 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.