Student pips the master mast to the post

A lightweight hunter steps up to the plate, a coloured cob lands a double and a hack breaks more records

- TRICIA JOHNSON

ROBERT WALKER cemented his supremacy when continuing his amazing – and now unprecedented – run to head the LeMieux open hunters for the fifth time in a row.

With four-time champion View Point now retired, it was finally a chance for another super-impressive lightweight to shine and Jill Day’s eight-year-old MHS Morning Master (TJ), supreme in-hand horse at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) as a three-year-old, did not disappoint.

Ironically, though, Robert was not on board for the championship award as he opted to stay with yet another up-and-coming superstar, the middleweight victor, Greenhall Treasure Island, who already has two titles from his only other outings this year.

Here, though, a momentary spook cost him dear and the historic trophy was duly handed to delighted groom Aimee Stunt, who pulled out all the stops on TJ to show the free-moving lightweight at his absolute best, lighting up the ring with a blistering gallop.

“We absolutely loved this horse,” agreed judges Ali Tate and ride assessor Beanie Sturgis. “He’s full of quality and had the full-on wow factor from the very start. He’s also totally correct in type – not too tall – and it’s lovely to see a horse come through to ridden ranks from in-hand as it doesn’t always happen.”