With just a few days to go before the Olympic Games, Frenchman Kévin Staut won the Rolex Grand Prix Ville de Dinard, a stage of the Rolex Series circuit. It was the crowning glory of four days of great sport at Jumping International de Dinard.
On the demanding course designed by Jean-François Morand (14 obstacles, 17 efforts), only six of the 38 competitors managed to leave the course without a penalty: Steve Guerdat (Venard de Cerisy), Max Kühner (EIC Cooley Jump The Q, Federico Fernandez (Romeo), Nicolas Delmotte (Jordan Molga M), Lorenzo de Luca (Denver de Talma) and Kevin Staut (Beau de Laubry Z).
After an impressive jump-off, Staut beat two members of the world’s top five – Swiss Steve Guerdat (no. 4), the 2012 Olympic champion, and Austrian Max Kühner (no. 3), the defending champion. The packed stands at Val Porée exploded; after holding their breath for the last few strides of Staut’s jump-off, his clear round with the fastest time got the entire crowd on their feet to salute his incredible performance.
Now ranked #17 in the world, but one of the most consistent riders in the top 10 for many years, the Frenchman savoured the moment aboard Beau de Laubry Z, his 11-year-old Zangerscheide gelding.
“I’m obviously delighted,” said the day’s big winner. “We’ve had some incredible sport again. Dinard is a great competition, with an extraordinary public and a very special course with uneven ground on which my horse is at ease. History shines through in this competition and that gives it another dimension. It’s a competition that takes up the basics of our sport. I’ve taken part in the Grand Prix maybe ten or even fifteen times. I’ve often been runner-up but I’ve never had the pleasure of winning because the level is always extraordinary. It’s a great joy. All the more so in a Rolex Series event.
“Rolex has been a loyal partner of our sport for a very long time, with a real family spirit. On a personal level, it’s also a great support. This kind of victory is a way of repaying that support.”
It’s the perfect scenario to build up confidence just a few days before the start of the Paris Olympic Games, where Staut will be defending the colours of France in the gardens of the Château de Versailles, this time with Viking d’la Rousserie. “It’s always good to win, it gives you great energy,” he admits. “But I’ve ridden every event in this competition without thinking about what comes next. It’ll be time to think about that afterwards.”
In the end, Guerdat finished second, oscillating between satisfaction and frustration. “In a competition like this, you don’t ask yourself any questions,” explains the Swiss rider. “Especially with a horse I know well. So I tried everything from the start. My horse was fantastic, but from [jump] number three, I realised that I was lacking a bit of madness in this jump-off. I realised quite quickly that it wasn’t going to be enough. It’s a bit of a disappointment because it’s a competition that’s close to my heart but I haven’t won yet.”
The only Canadian in this competition, Olympic team member Erynn Ballard, placed 29th riding Libido Van’T Hofken.
“This year’s event was a great success, with a huge number of spectators,” says Danièle Mars, the competition’s president. “On Saturday, the Derby de Bretagne put on a great show with a number of participants that we’d probably never seen before. On Sunday, the Rolex Grand Prix Ville de Dinard also delighted us with a magnificent jump-off. To have our competition included in the Rolex Series, a circuit that brings together only historic and high-quality competitions, is a great recognition of our work. We had brought our dates forward a little because of the Olympic Games, but next year we’ll be returning to our historic date on the last weekend in July. See you on 24-27 July!”
Results here.
~ with files from Jumping International de Dinard
More from News:
