`My name's a plus - but ambition is more'.

Ellen Whitaker jumped into the headlines earlier this year, staking her claim on second place in the prestigious DFS British Jumping Derby.

At just 18-years-old, her cool, calm attitude to top competition has seen her ranked among the world's best and she is one young rider certainly going places.

The showjumping star has this year risen from 15th place to sixth in the rider rankings following a number of wins including the Great Yorkshire Show and the Chester International Show.

Based at Silkstone, Ellen lives with her parents Steven and Carol and brothers Joe, Tom and Donald.

As a member of the Whitaker family, Ellen is clearly unphased about the famous nature of her name.

Although entirely driven by her ambitions, Ellen does, however, consider being part of the Whitaker clan a big plus.

Ellen looks upon her uncle Michael as a key figure influencing her style and technique, spending many hours watching him compete and learning from his accuracy against the clock.

Backed by the expertise and knowledge of her father Steven, second of the four Whitaker sons, and the determined enthusiasm of her mother, Ellen has had her sights on the very top of the showjumping ladder from an early age.

Ellen sat on her first pony at the precocious age of just nine months and rode at the Horse of the Year Show on her first real jumping pony, Jimmy Ruffin, when she was eight.

After a series of 12.2h ponies, followed by 14.2hh ponies, Ellen's success started to attract more rides and two came her way from a well- known showjumping family the Squibbs, in the form of Miami Bound and Street Angel.

Adding further stars to the stable, John Rogers sent the talented Savvy Mill to Ellen and it was on this pony that she competed at the European Pony Championships.

Rounding off a successful year in ponies, Ellen took second place in the major pony class at the Horse of the Year show and could by now see her future producing, training and competing.

Ellen said: "For some riders the transition from pony show jumping to horses doesn't go that well, but I had ridden a huge variety of ponies, and started to compete on my first horse when I was 13 so there was no real winter change-over period, coming off ponies and going on to horses."

Rarely one to let sentiment get in the way of riding and competing, Ellen admits that she had a special bond with her first horse, Jasper Gold, bought from another producer Adrian Marsh.

"Jasper Gold was my first real horse that was sold and at the time I was really upset," she said.

"We had been offered a lot of money for him from America and I understood this would help to kick start my career and allow us to buy more youngsters, but it was still really hard."

As her winning efforts grow, she has come to the attention of a number of key players in the market and Ellen recently landed a sponsorship deal with Caldene alongside Robert Smith and Rob Walker.

She is currently featuring as the face of Caldene in their latest advertising campaign.

Now forming a major part of the showjumping scene Ellen is travelling the world competing in a sport she loves and being in an environment she thrives on.

Clearly focused on her future she has her sights set on an Olympic gold medal and a win in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Hickstead.

And with a top class team of horses including her Hickstead Derby runner-up AK Lacarno 62, the big winning AK Kanselier, and the huge grey stallion AK Quinten, she is certainly well-placed to meet those dreams.