Michael Whitaker’s return to Paris

“I think I’ve done about 25 Finals, so it’s about time I won it!”, the 57-year-old rider joked after finishing third on JB’s Hot Stuff at this past weekend’s 13th and final CSI5*-W Western European qualifier, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The result left the currently 61st-ranked rider in the world seventh in the continental qualifying standings, with 18 competitors from the region getting a ticket.

Alongside him at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris from April 11-15 will be his nephew Robert, who finished 16th in the field of elite riders and will be attending his first World Cup FInal. Indeed, over the past five months, starting with the European season’s first qualifier in Oslo, the Whitakers and their counterparts in the league have competed in locations such as Helsinki, Verona, Lyon, Stuttgart, Madrid, La Coruna, London-Olympia, Mechelen, Leipzig, Zurich, and Bordeaux before wrapping up at Gothenburg’s Scandinavium arena on the southwest Swedish coast.

While Whitaker competed in the last World Cup Final in Paris, it was his brother John who had the most success in the competition during that era, winning back-to-back World Cup titles with Milton in 1990 and 1991. Still, Michael has had his own success in the Final over the years as well: third in 1994 on Midnight Madness, third in 2001 on Handel II and runner-up in 2005 on Portofino. That is in addition to his medals at the Olympics and World and European Championships. Nick Skelton was the last Brit to win the Final, with Everest Dollar Girl in 1995. Last year, American McLain Ward won at home in Omaha, Nebraska with HH Azur. 

As previously reported, the top 20 riders to have qualified from the Western European League this year (18 Europeans plus two based on the continent – Australian Edwina Tops-Alexander and Colombian Carlos Enrique Lopez Lizarazo have also qualified for Paris) are: 

– Henrik von Eckermann
– Kevin Staut
– Marcus Ehning
– Denis Lynch
– Christian Ahlmann
– Michael Whitaker
– Roger-Yves Bost
– Pieter Devos
– Daniel Deusser
– Harrie Smolders
– Alberto Zorzi
– Steve Guerdat
– Eduardo Alvarez Aznar
– Robert Whitaker
– Douglas Lindelöw
– Mark McAuley
– Olivier Philippaerts
– Simon Delestre

More information on the 2018 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final and FEI World Cup Dressage Final can be found here.