His chance came after dressage leader Bettina Hoy, the Gatcombe-based German Olympic rider, dropped back with two refusals on Woodsides Ashby and Whittington, 26, seized the opportunity with both hands.
The 10-year-old Irish-bred Osh Kosh, whom he described afterwards as “my best horse at the moment”, was a willing accomplice and raced home with one of the two fastest rounds. New Zealander Andrew Nicholson was runner-up on former racehorse Duddles, with Lucy Wiegersma third on In the Purple and Zara Phillips fourth on Toytown.
As a teenager, Whittington looked set for a promising future in eventing after winning medals with the Pony European team, followed by good performances in the Junior and Young Rider teams. He trained as an equine dentist in Britain and America to pay his way, while always nursing the dream of building up his own eventing stable at Rotherfield in east Sussex, where his mother teaches.
This year his perseverance has paid off and Whittington has been able to set up his own yard, encouraged by owners such as Polly Samson, who gave him the talented Osh Kosh.
A week ago he showed just how able a rider he is by taking third place on his sister Bryony’s Burlington Bertie in the Eventers Grand Prix at Hickstead, won by Michael Whitaker. Dressage had always been a bugbear but local tuition has paid off.
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Phillips, 22, had every reason to be happy with Toytown, the horse which earned her a silver medal at last year’s European Young Rider Championships. Her mount made only one mistake in the showjumping, and Phillips leapt from seventh place to finish fourth after a confident cross country. At Luhmuhlen in Germany recently, Toytown led after the dressage and cross country but plummeted to fifth with four showjumping errors.
Captain Mark Phillips, who put Gatcombe on the map 21 years ago, had advised his daughter to switch from today’s Open Championship to the Advanced, and was proved correct when he forecast that Toytown’s showjumping would be much improved.
But fortune was not smiling on Hoy, who had struggled to be allowed to compete at Gatcombe after a bad fall when Woodsides Ashby slipped over at Lulworth a week ago.
She was knocked out and had to fly to Germany for a brain scan and tests, after which the specialist cleared her to compete. With her knee in a brace after the fall, Hoy still had to convince officials that she was fit to start. After clearing that hurdle she hoped her luck had turned with a sparkling display in the dressage. With two refusals, however, the cross country was a major disappointment.
Cressida Clague-Reading, a former member of Britain’s European Young Rider team, won the British Novice Championship on James, from Chris King on Capaduce.
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Clague-Reading recently graduated from university in psychology but has now decided to concentrate on eventing. She is training with the 1992 Olympic gold medallist, Australian Matt Ryan, who finished sixth on Slight of Hand.
Pippa Funnell will be among the favourites for today’s British Open on Primmore’s Pride.