July 31, 2023 
Every family has traditions. Some play football on Thanksgiving. Others swim on the first day of spring or give all their children names that start with the letter J.
If you’re of the famed Whitaker show jumping lineage, however, the family tradition is considerably more demanding: winning the Longines King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead in Great Britain.
John Whitaker, 67, is a three-time winner of the iconic gold trophy. He captured it in 1986 with Ryan’s Son, in 1990 with the legendary Milton, and in 1997 on Virtual Village Welham. His younger brother Michael Whitaker, 63, has won it four times—first in 1982 with Disney Way; again in 1989 aboard Next Didi; and twice (1992 and 1994) with Everest Midnight Madness
On Sunday at the Longines Royal International Horse Show, the trophy saw a new Whitaker name etched into history. Robert Whitaker, son of John, delivered the only double clear on the day to win The Cup and keep the family tradition alive.
Making the moment all the sweeter still, Robert’s winning ride, Vermento, was sired by his father’s famed mount Argento, a horse John Whitaker won over a €1 Million on between 2015–2019 (Jumpr App).
“It’s just amazing, my dad bred the horse, and we’ve put a lot of work in him. I’ve probably nurtured him the last couple of years, saving him and jumping 1.50m classes. I’ve never jumped a five-star with him before—that was his first,” said Robert of the 10-year-old stallion. According to their Jumpr App stats, Vermento has a 44% clear round and top 10 finish averages over 25 rounds at 1.50m and a 40% top 10 finish average in just six starts at 1.60m.
Nine of the 45 starters found a clear path around Kelvin Bywater’s tricky first round course to advance to the jump off. Only Robert, however, managed to repeat the feat.
“I just think he was feeling very good in himself, he jumped amazing in the first round and in the jump off he still had a lot of energy left, and I think that showed,” said the British rider. “When I was going in the first round I was really nervous, because you never know what can happen in this ring. But actually, this is a local show for me, so I jump here a lot, and he’s jumped a lot in smaller classes in the ring, so he knows the ring quite well—I think that worked well in my favor.
Over the short course, Robert and Vermento, stopped the clock at 56.70 seconds. Only one rider posted a faster time, Pedro Veniss (BRA) and Nimrod de Muze Z, who crossed the timers in 56.48s but had a rail down.
“I wanted to get in a good rhythm and not be too slow; to get a good time but not to overcook it. The way he was jumping, he jumped so safe everywhere. I ended up quite a lot quicker than people with one down,” said Robert.
The win was an understandably emotional one for the father-son team and comes just two days after John clinched the win in Friday’s Nations Cup for Great Britain at Hickstead with a clear round aboard Equine America Unick de Franscport.
“It’s a special competition. Following on from the Nations Cup, which was an unbelievable win the other day, for Robert to win that it’s very special,” said John. “It’s unbelievably good. When I’m riding, I’m not at all nervous but watching the kids, especially Robert today, I was very nervous.”
