October 28, 2024 
If Black Beauty needed a real-life equine stand-in for a modern remake, Robert Whitaker’s ride, Vermento, would be a good place for casting to start.
Bred by Robert’s father, British Olympic silver medalist John Whitaker, the 11-year-old BE/SIES breeding stallion by Argento has all the tall, dark, and handsome prerequisites in spades. And if his performance in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in Helsinki this weekend is any indication, he’s also one heck of a show jumper.
Robert Whitaker took over the reins from his father back in 2019, campaigning the stallion in 8-year-old CSI Young Horse classes and developing him slowly up the ranks. On Sunday, the strength of that longstanding partnership was evident as the pair pulled out all the stops in Sunday’s technical, 13-horse jump-off.
Despite Vermento’s large size, he and Whitaker made up plenty of ground—as well as seconds on the clock—thanks to a few agile turns, including a foot-perfect rollback to the purple Longines vertical. Whitaker’s time of 36.84 seconds surpassed second-place finisher Kevin Staut (FRA) and Dialou Blue PS on 37.11 seconds, and Steve Guerdat (SUI) and Is-Minka on 37.56 seconds.
“Vermento has been jumping very good, but he’s quite a big horse, and some of the turns are not so easy for him,” Whitaker said after the class. “He was good yesterday, but I had a really good go-ahead today, and it just worked out for us—every turn and distance just came in the right time. I was very quick at the purple vertical and I think that did it.”
Helsinki has been a friendly venue for Robert Whitaker, who previously won this World Cup qualifier with Catwalk Iv in 2019. This is the second, career *5 victory for Vermento, who also took home the 1.60m Longines King George V Gold Cup on the grass at Hickstead in July of 2023.
In 35 rounds at 1.60m+, he and Whitaker have a clear round rate of 34%. But they’re an undeniable threat in the jump-off, with a top 10 finish rate of 50%, according to Jumpr.
“Vermento was amazing. He looked ahead to every fence. I think our round [in the 1.60m International Grand Trophy] yesterday helped him—[we] had a fence down. He is a horse that doesn’t want to make mistakes, so I think that made him extra sharp today,” said Whitaker, adding that he is planning to gear the stallion toward the back-to-back Western League qualifiers in Spain at Madrid and A Coruña in December.
With this win, the British rider pockets 20 points toward the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ – 2024/2025 Western European League standings, tying Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Steve Guerdat. Yuri Mansur of Brazil currently leads the series on 25 points, while Kevin Staut (24 points) and Sweden’s Peder Fredricson (21 points), sit in second and third, respectively.
Next week, the Western European League moves on to Lyon, France with the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier taking place on Sunday, November 3.
