Morocco Royal Tour Rabat Roundup

The Rabat leg of the Morocco Royal Tour took place October 12-15 at the Royal Moroccan Federation of Equestrian (FRMSE) Sports’ facilities, offering €274,000 in prize money in 4* and 1* classes. The flagship event was the Moroccan Nations’ Cup on Sunday afternoon, and also a 4* World Cup Grand Prix on Friday.

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Marine Scauflaire jumping a fence in Rabat.

Marine Scauflaire (BEL) and Cuba Libre de Nevada Z. (Adele Renauldon/R&B Presse)

Friday: First 4* Grand Prix, First Victory For Marine Scauflaire

This year’s Grand Prix was (almost) dominated by women, with three placing in the top five. Italian course designer Uliano Vezzani set up a course that was tough, leaving only five clear rounds among the 38 riders at the start. It wasn’t until the break and the 20th starter that the first clear round went to Ireland’s Christopher Megahey riding Doriano de Blondel, but he was unable to repeat this performance in the decisive second round. Italy’s Roberto Previtali and Conthargo-Blue managed a double-clear, as did Belgian rider Marine Scauflaire with the speedy Cuba Libre de Nevada Z, French rider Jeanne Sadran with Kosmo Van Hof Ter Boone and Swiss rider Barbara Schnieper, always a top performer on the MRT, was faster with Escoffier, but at the cost of a fault that kept her off the podium.

At just 30 years of age, Marine Scauflaire, competing in her first MRT, is slowly but surely making her way to the top and this first-ever victory in a 4* grand prix is part of her journey – one Marine hadn’t really expected with a horse that’s still relatively young. “Cuba Libre de Nevada Z has been moving in the right direction for a few months now, but I didn’t expect him to win here. I set off in this second round with the sole aim of getting a clear round, but not to win, as Cuba Libre is still relatively ‘green’ and not everything is yet perfect … but the game has turned in our favor today.”

A fine reward for her work as a trainer, as Marine has been bringing this gelding, who belongs to his breeder, Karel Van Damme, along since he was five years old. “He was a very late bloomer, as he didn’t start stringing together clear rounds until he was seven, something he was almost incapable of doing before. He was injured when he was eight, so this is the first year he’s competing in big classes, and today was his first 4* Grand Prix. I’m convinced that he has the means and the qualities to go one step further.”

Prix Sar La Princesse Lalla Amina CSIO4*-W – 1.55 m

1) Marine Scauflaire, BEL – Cuba Libre de Nevada Z 0-0/41.53
2) Roberto Previtali, ITA – Conthargo-Blue 0-0/41.69
3) Jeanne Sadran, FRA – Kosmo Van Hof Ter Boone 0-0/42.09
4) Barbara Schnieper, SUI – Escoffier 0-4/39.77
5) Duarte Seabra, POR – Dourados 2 4-0/40.60

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Ireland's Jessica Burke and Express Trend galloping in the arena.

Ireland’s Jessica Burke takes her fourth international victory of the year in Rabat with Express Trend. (Thomas Reiner photo)

Saturday: Moroccan Day Ends With Irish Dance

The feature class of the day, the Prix Maroc Telecom, went to Ireland’s Jessica Burke with the homebred horse Express Trend enjoying their fourth international victory this year.

For the record, the rule of the Winning Round is that the first round qualifies the twelve best riders for this “winning round”, where the counters are reset to zero. This was just the thing for the Irish rider who had one down in the first round with her Irish horse Express Trend: “He’s a 13-year-old horse that I’ve been riding for 10 years. It’s the specialty of our stables, we train our own young horses. So I’ve known Express Trend since he was 10. We know each other by heart, and he’s a very efficient horse. The fence down in the first round was entirely my fault. Thank God, I benefited from that rule today”. In fact, the first six placed also benefited from this system, while the four clear rounds of the first round all went wrong in the decisive round! The law is tough, but it’s the law. And it allowed us to enjoy Jessica Burke’s smile.

Prix Maroc Telecom CSIO4*-W – 1.50 m

1) Jessica Burke, IRL – Express Trend 4-0/35.25
2) Emanuele Gaudiano, ITA – Chalou 1-0/35.72
3) Jennifer Hochstadter, LIE – Tinka’s Hero Z 4-0/37.46
4) Giulia Martinengo Marquet, ITA – Scuderia 1918 Quick And Easy 3 4-0/37.78
5) Antoine Ermann, FRA – Comic Star 0-0/40.10

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Virginie Thonon jumping a fence in Rabat.

Virginie Thonon and Edgard de Prefontaine had one of two double-clear efforts for Team Belgium. (Adèle Renauldon/R&B Presse)

Sunday: Team Belgium Takes Nations Cup

The highlight of the second stage of the Morocco Royal Tour, the Nations Cup was won on Sunday afternoon in Rabat by a fine young team from Belgium, marking just the second Belgian victory since the Moroccan Nations Cup was born in 2016.

On a course that was fluid at the start and more technical towards the end, Switzerland struck hard from the outset, stringing together three clear rounds that enabled Barbara Schnieper to rest Canice in the first round and drop Belgium to 4 points behind. An option for victory, but nothing is definitive in the Nations Cup after the first round, as the rest of the story proved.

After a second clear round from Elian Bauman with Little Lumpi E, the Swiss lead was shaken by the 12 faults scored by Mehdi Roessli-Dobjanschi and Valderama Tame. Alexandra Amar and Vincy du Gue’s small overtaking time fault further weakened the Swiss position, while the Belgians lined up clear rounds in succession: Virginie Thonon and Edgard de Préfontaine, Cyril Cools and Milton Z and Marine Scauflaire and Hortus d’Hoogpoort, who erased their poor 16-fault first round result in style.

“I was actually very confident for this second round, as I know my horse well. It was my first Nations Cup, and I missed my first round, but I didn’t ask myself any questions and went into the second round with full confidence.” Fellow team member Jérôme Guéry didn’t need to start, as the squad’s’ triple zero could not be improved upon. Switzerland’s Barbara Schnieper, on the other hand, had to take Canice out of the stall with the onerous responsibility of producing a clear round for the Swiss to win. But the blue oxer after the water jump proved fatal for Barbara and ‘Nati’ and the team slipped back to second place.

“It’s the law of this sport,” philosophized Jérôme Guéry. “One man’s misfortune is another man’s gain. I put myself in Barbara’s shoes … it’s true that when she came out onto the arena, we honestly hoped she’d make a small mistake … the pressure couldn’t have helped her, and I know what it’s like to have been in that situation.” France completed the podium by moving up one place in the second round.

The Morocco Royal Tour 2023 continues later this week in El Jadida from October 19-23 as part of the Salon du Cheval.

Nations Cup Results:

1) Belgium
2) Switzerland
3) France
4) Ireland
5) Italy
6) Morocco
7) Ukraine
8) Spain

Complete results here.

~ with files from Morocco Royal Tour / rbpresse.com