Laura Renwick of Great Britain must be feeling vindicated today. Yesterday, she led the field for most of the opening class aboard her very quick Rembrandt Blue, only to have victory snatched away from her late in the order. Today she hung on to her speedy time to win the CSI5* 25,000€ class over Emanuele Gaudiano (ITA) with French Coffee and Olivier Philippaerts (BEL) riding Carlito C.
Renwick, 40, a former British Airways flight attendant during a brief sabbatical from riding, has owned the big grey gelding for less than a year. “He`s always quick and he`s always careful, so these sort of classes are really good for him,” she said. “I don’t know what he is yet. He has the heart, so I hope one day he will be able to jump more, because he loves the job.”
To see Laura Renwick’s interview, go to http://youtu.be/97kjqh9wQl0
The first big jumping test came in this evening’s 1.55m 153,000€ class, when Frank Rothenberger set a really big track to whittle down the starting field of 43. The jump-off saw 23 riders taking part, a rather large number to which Rothenberger admitted, “I had the impression that fewer riders would qualify, but that apparently didn’t happen.”
A dazzling performance in the jump-off by Morocco’s Abdelkebir Ouaddar and the 11-year-old Selle Francais stallion Quickly de Kreisker edged world no. 1 rider and horse Scott Brash (GBR) and Hello Sanctos, while Daniel Deusser (GER) and Cornet d’ Amour finished third.
Ouaddar first made people really sit up and take notice at the 2014 WEG when, as a relative unknown, he and Quickly de Kreisker placed 13th in the opening speed competition. Of the stallion, who is owned by the Moroccan royal family, Oaddar said, “I know I have a very fast horse, so I could take all the risks. But I am still very happy now that I could win against the best. To beat Scott Brash is a special feeling.”
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