John Whitaker and Rebecca Stones’ Peppermill are ‘back to their best’, beating a world class field to take victory and the 95,000€ winner’s purse in the Valencia Global Champions Tour Grand Prix.

Jumping two breathtaking clear rounds, John and Peppermill produced the only double clear of the competition to take the win from Sweden's Rolf Goran-Bengtsson and Australia’s golden girl, Edwina Alexander.

Global Champions Tour Valencia Grand Prix (1.60m)

1st John Whitaker GBR Peppermill – 0/0 72.55 secs 2nd Rolf Goran-Bengtsson SWE Ninja La Silla – 0/1 74.46 secs 3rd Edwina Alexander AUS Itot du Chateau – 4/0 65.36 secs

Speaking after his victory John said “Peppermill has never been entirely off work since the Olympics but he hasn’t been to many shows so he was getting a bit fresh. I played with him on the Sunshine Tour a bit but the fences were not really big enough to make him concentrate. In Arezzo at the GCT Show he was just fooling around and not paying attention. But I have done more with him and I could not be more pleased with how he went today”.

The Global Champions Tour combines the worlds top outdoor show jumping events and showcases the world's top riders competing in exotic locations at the highest level of the sport for record prize money. The top 30 riders in the world are invited to compete with their best horses at Olympic level (1.60m). The locations are selected to ensure the best conditions are enjoyed by all - the riders, horses, sponsors, horse owners and most importantly the spectators and fans.

For more information on the 2009 Global Champions Tour please visit www.globalchampionstour.com.

Image courteous of the Global Champions Tour