Rabat CSIO4*-W Wraps with Wins by Saudis

The Morocco Royal Tour’s CSIO4*-W leg in Rabat continued through the weekend, with feature classes including a World Cup qualifier on Friday, the Prix Maroc Telecom on Saturday, and the 1.50m Nations Cup event on Sunday.

Friday Rabat FEI World Cup Grand Prix

For a while, it looked like a double for France’s Ines Jolly who, after her victory in Tetuán, was leading this CSIO4*-W Prix Sar La Princesse Lalla Amina World Cup Grand Prix for most of the class. It became even more likely she would win when Adbullah Alsharbatly, the favourite after his incredible day on Thursday, came to a halt over the second obstacle. But when one Saudi falters, another emerges, in this case, Ramzy Al Duhamy and his Olympic mount Untouchable 32.

The young Frenchwoman gave it her all, but didn’t lose her smile. “It’s the first time I’ve found myself with Ambassador Z in a real ‘play-off’ with 17 competitors, where we had to play the game. There were only two of us when I won in Monte Carlo, so the strategy here was to risk everything, and it worked. It’s a shame; it was only 20 one-hundredths…

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“Ambassador is a fighter and a horse I adore. As soon as I saw him at Abdel Said’s, it was love at first sight. However, in our first show, in the warm-up, on a bar just twenty centimeters high, he tossed me. But I didn’t blame him – he’s a horse I adore and always will, even when he puts me in the dirt!

“I wanted to cut into the line from the second to the third fence, but he stumbled…if I’d been able to get in front, we’d have had it, but I’m still happy.”

Ramzy Al Duhamy was happy, too, of course. He had planned to go as fast as possible without taking into account Ines Jolly’s course, which he hadn’t been able to see, with a mare who isn’t noted for her speed. But this week, the Saudi has clearly found the synergy. “With Untouchable, we’re getting to know each other very well, and we’ve become real partners. She’s very sensitive, and for some time now, she’s been showing that she’s a world-class mare. She’s not the fastest, and I have to find solutions to shave off the time. She’s got a big stride, and that helps me on this big track, which I particularly like.

“I love this competition, this circuit, which is like a family reunion where you can get together in a friendly atmosphere while at the same time, in a technical sense, everything is perfect.”

Prix Sar La Princesse Lalla Amina (FEI World Cup Grand Prix)

1) Ramzy Al Duhami, KSA – Untouchable 32 0-0/43.53
2) Ines Joly, FRA – Ambassador Z 0-0/43.75
3) Marine Scauflaire, BEL – Cuba Libre de Nevada Z 0-0/46.06
4) Iván Serrano Sáez, ESP – Chalawito PS 0-0/47.12
5) Thomas de Wit, BEL – Tools Dw Z 0-0/47.28

Saturday Grand Prix

After the victory of Spain’s Carolina Aresu Garcia Obregon in the Accumulator with Telhueche (“a horse with a huge heart,” said Carolina), the 4* riders met again Saturday night for the main event of the day, the Prix Maroc Telecom, a 1.50m winning round in which 31 riders took part. In the end, it was a Saudi who reigned victorious.

There was only one clear trip in the first round over Elio Travagliati’s track; Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano riding Nikolaj de Music, but the scores were set to zero for the 12 qualifiers in the second round. The top three finishers benefited from that system, all of whom had come out of the first round with at least one rail (and even two for eventual winner Khaled Almobty and Davenport VDL).

In round 2, Gaudiano had the speed, but it was at the cost of four faults with Nicolaj de Music in the double to drop to 7th place. France’s Ines Jolly, who has had an incredible Morocco Royal Tour with Ambassador Z (2nd in yesterday’s Grand Prix) and Pegasus Bandit Savoie (winner of the Grand Prix in Tetouan), lost by a hair to claim second with the latter. Abdullah Alsharbatly (KSA) was third with Boeckmanns Lord Pezi Junior.

Almobty became the third Saudi rider to win this 4* main event. “It’s a grand prix-level event, so it’s a very important win with Davenport VDL, who was making his competitive debut. With my two rails, I never thought I’d qualify for the second round. By starting first in this decisive round, I had nothing to lose, so I gave it my all and it worked.”

With this hat-trick of wins in three days, the Saudi Arabian team were the favourites leading into Sunday’s Nations’ Cup, but Khaled noted that he is is wary of “Spain and Morocco!”

Grand Prix de Rabat Ministere de L’Interieur

1) Alix Ragot, FRA – Serafina Dbh Z 0-0/39.00
2) Yahia Said, MAR – Eliza B 0-0/39.65
3) Ghali Chaoui, MAR – Esperenzo 0-0/40.15
4) Alessandra Bonifazi, ITA – Looping 0-4/43.47
5) Youssef Essamlali, MAR – Jaboulet 0-4/47.49

A group of riders on a podium holding up a trophy.

The victorious Saudi Arabian team with chef d’equipe David Will. (R&B Presse / Morgan Froment)

Sunday Nations Cup

After the Saudis’ flawless sweep of all the weekend’s top 4* events, the green jackets didn’t disappoint in the Nations’ Cup on Sunday. They won in Morocco for the first time with two double-clear rounds from Abdullhah Alsharbatly and Ramzy Al Duhami and three foot-perfect efforts in the second round, leaving Italy 5 points behind and overtaking Belgium, who finished third.

It was a traditional Nations’ Cup course, where the difficulty of the obstacles built suspense until the very end. From the first round, two teams emerged with a clean score, Belgium and Switzerland (a habit in Rabat), one with a point (Italy), and three others with four points: Saudi Arabia, France, and Morocco.

Ireland was already out of the game, and as the second round progressed, France lost their grasp on the trophy, then Morocco soon after. This gave Belgium an opening in the third round, but they too lost hope with a third four-fault effort from Marine Scauflaire, then Switzerland’s Dominik Fuhrer cracked with a 16-pointer. Italy, handicapped only by Emanuele Gaudiano’s single point in the first round, added 8 more. Then Saudi Arabia swept the board with a third clear in this second round from Abduhlah Alsharbatly and the mighty Ermindo W.

Author of one of the afternoon’s five double-clear rounds, Ramzy Al Duhami seemed even happier than after his Grand Prix victory on Friday. “Four united riders, top horses, and a great chef d’équipe. In short, we had everything we needed to be motivated here,” said Al Duhami.

Their coach, David Will from Germany, emphasized this team spirit. “It’s a real group effort. This team performed well throughout the weekend, and that welded the riders together. I haven’t changed much about their riding, as they’re experienced riders who’ve already had a lot of prior success. I’m here above all to work on the details and objectives, bearing in mind that the most ambitious goal right now is the World Championships in Aachen in 2026.”

This fourth Saudi victory marked the end of the second leg of the Morocco Royal Tour. Tomorrow, horses and riders will take to the road to El Jadida for the indoor conclusion of this 2024 circuit.

Nations Cup

1) Saudi Arabia 4-0/216.68
2) Italy 1-8/212.01
3) Belgium 0-12/212.56
4) Switzerland 0-12/218.58
5) France 4-12/212.07
6) Spain 8-8/216.47
7) Morocco 4-12/217.42
8) Brazil 8-16/212.88
9) Ireland 8/217.04

Results here.

~ with files from R&B Presse