George sets sights on Rio 2016 as Whitakers revel in family rivalry

But Huddersfield prospect George Whitaker insists he is under no illusions that any success is handed down on a plate.

George, 20, is now the fourth highest-ranked Whitaker behind his uncle Michael who is second, and uncle John who is seventh, while cousin Richard is eighth.

One place behind in 18th is cousin Ellen followed by uncle Steven at 19, brother William at 20 and cousin Louise who is 21st.

Even then, if you look a little further down the pecking order you will discover two more cousins – Joe ranked 60th and Thomas ranked 107th.

That is a staggering 10 members of the family inside the country’s top 110 and showjumping success quite clearly runs deep in the Whitaker genes.

But so, too, does a determination to succeed through one’s own identity.

George says there are no hand-outs from his leading sporting family members, albeit he admits his two uncles have been hugely helpful in terms of training facilities.

But the George Whitaker operation is his own – run from his stable in Outlane alongside older brother William – the pair are on the World-Class Programme – and a younger brother James, who is another sibling waiting to burst onto the scene.

“A lot of people think we are all in the same yard with the same horses,” Whitaker told the Yorkshire Post.

“But I’ve had to find my own horses and I haven’t had John and Michael give me that many horses.

“They have helped me a lot with the training side of it with their facilities, but I have to go out and find my own horses.

“I can’t just go to their place and pick out a good horse.

“A lot pf people think it is handed to us on a plate but it’s not like that at all.

“Me and Will are based at a farm in Outlane, Huddersfield with my younger brother Jim and then uncle John is at Huddersfield at Upper Cumberworth.

“Then uncle Stephen is at Barnsley, near Silsden and we all have to go out and find our own horses and we’re all from different yards.

“We help each other a lot at shows and we use their facilities, but we are still trying to better each other as well.”

George and his older brother William are in Italy where they are competing in the Arezzo show which involves five weeks of almost continued competition.

The duo will fly back to England following the competition’s conclusion on April 14 ahead of this summer’s season.

Family members or not, George insists uncles, cousins and even siblings are there to be beat.

“I think there are seven of us in the top 20 in the country and if a Whitaker doesn’t get at least a top two result we are very disappointed!

“But we’re still very competitive against each other every time we go in the ring.

“I always want either Will to win or me to win but all I say is that as long as a Whitaker wins I’m not bothered!

“The fact that there’s so many of us doing so well makes me feel really good and also I’m still quite young. But I’m up there with everyone which is good.”

Little brother James is studying the second year of his GCSEs at Salendine Nook High School and George is predicting a big future for his younger sibling, who has already outgrown ponies.

“Jim is riding now and he’s jumping but he’s big for his age as well,” he said.

“I was still doing ponies when I was 15 but he’s a lot bigger than me when I was 15.

“He’s had to sack the ponies – he’s sold them and gone on to horses and he’s coming along well. He’s won a few competitions and local shows and he won’t be long in coming along.”

But he will have to go some to overtake George, who enjoyed a fine 2012 and is optimistic of an even brighter 2013.

He only hopes that 2016 – the next Olympic year – is even better still.

“Obviously every sportsperson’s ambition is to go the Olympics – if their sport is in the Olympics,” said George. “That’s got to be the ultimate ambition. A lot of people eye Rio but it all just depends on horse-power.

“You can be the best rider in the world but if you don’t have a horse that is capable of doing it then you’re no good – you’ve got no chance.

“You’ve got to be a very good rider and you’ve got to have a very good head so that you don’t get too nervous. But you’ve also got to make sure you’ve got a good enough horse as well.

“Rio might be a bit early for me, I’m only 20 but it’s not totally off the cards.

“I just need to get myself a good horse.

“People spend millions and millions on horses now. It’s ridiculous.

“We can’t really do that and we have to look at the bigger picture and buy them younger.

“We are hoping to buy them younger so they are not as much money and actually developing them ourselves.

“The aim has to be going to the Olympics and getting into the top 10 and just winning as many classes as possible really.”

Assessing his last year and some of his chief equine hopes, George added: “I had a good 2012 and I won a few good Grand Prix.

“I won a three-star Grand Prix in CSI Maubeuge with Tubana, but in this last year I have only really had her to compete with at a big level.

“But now I’ve got a couple of others that I’ll have this year that were a bit young last year.

“They have grown up a bit now, so hopefully they can help Tubana out a bit.

“Hopefully, my 2013 should be even better because I’ve got better horse-power.

“Some of them have weird names but my best horse is still Tubana, who is 13, but then my next one is Wesselton M, who is 10.

“I have one named after an owner of mine called JB’s Hot Property, who is now eight, and I’ve also got another eight-year-old called More Candy, who I had better mention. Eight is probably the age where you start to step up to bigger classes.

“We’re hoping in this next year that we can get them going and crack on with them.”