大象传媒

The Cock o'the North is the traditional climax to three days of show jumping competition at the Great Yorkshire Show. It attracts international names from the equestrian world, with previous winners including household names like Harvey Smith and Malcolm Pyrah.

In 2007 the Yorkshire Agricultural Society significantly increased the amount of prize money on offer and brought in a new course designer, Bob Ellis, who also designs courses for events such as 'The Horse of Year Show', 'Olympia' and 'Hickstead.' He's also designed courses all over the world - ranging from Dubai to Toronto and from Portugal to Tampa Bay in Florida.

He described it as "an honour" to be involved because the Great Yorkshire Show has "great traditions. A lot of the fences have been here for a long time, the traditional 'double of walls' and the gate in the Cock o'the North."

His only previous experience of the Great Yorkshire Show was when he competed as a rider over thirty years ago. Bob says "I stayed for two days and realised how under horsed I was and went home, and I've never had a horse good enough to jump here since."

In designing a course for the 'Cock o'the North' he says it needed to be a strong course which reflects the major prize money on offer. He describes the main ring at the Great Yorkshire Showground as "a big arena" with lots of spectators. Because of this, he says "there's got to be something for all areas of the arena. It's got to be entertaining for people watching, whilst at the same time being testing enough for the horse and rider."

He says the condition of the ground was a consideration in the final setting of the course (it was very wet in the run up to the show) and he had to be a little bit careful with the spread fences, which were pulled in a little bit to make them not quite as testing as they would have been had the ground been in perfect condition.

The 2007 Cock o'the North Championship was won by Michael Whitaker riding Quidames des Hayettes. Jackson Reed-Stephenson on Crown Rhonderite was second, whilst third was Tim Stephenson on 'Fresh Direct Animation.'