Forty-six horse and rider combinations took part in the CSI4* Grand Prix on this last Sunday of September. Eleven combinations managed to qualify for the jump-off on the 1m55 course designed by Louis Konickx, boasting sixteen jumping efforts. Although France was the most represented nation in the jump-off, Italy ended up being victorious, thanks to Piergiorgio Bucci’s wonderful performance with Driandria.
Initially the 4* Grand Prix appeared to smile upon the French riders. After the first clear round of Taiwan’s Jasmine Chen, France’s Bruno Garez, Morgan Bordat, Thierry Rozier, Marie Demonte and Julien Gonin also jumped clear in the allowed time, to the extent that at the end of the first round, five of the fourteen jump-off riders in this Grand Prix were French. Facing them, Portugal’s Luis Sabino Gonçalves, Brazil’s Yuri Mansur, Mexico’s Eugenio Garza Perez, Switzerland’s Janika Sprunger and Italy’s Piergiorgio Bucci also had clear rounds when they left the ring allowing them to go through to the jump-off …which promised to be very high-level!
First to go in the jump-off, Jasmin Chen and Ninyon’s hopes were dashed when they had one rail down on the vertical, the second fence in the jump-off. The first French rider, Bruno Garez and United Sunheup had one down on the second element of the double. Morgan Bordat and Julien Gonin were also unlucky and each left the ring with four faults. Thierry Rozier and Star put a smile back on the faces of the French members of the public, with a perfect, fast round, in a time of 31.72 seconds.
After them, Marie Demonte and Tanael des Bonnes, who have only being competing together for a few weeks, also had a perfect jump-off round, but finished in 32.59 seconds and went into second place provisionally. Although Luis Sabino Gonçalves had two rails down, and went into eleventh place in the final line-up, the last competitors to go had visibly no intention of letting a French rider win the class. Yuri Mansur, Eugenio Garza Perez, Janika Sprunger and Piergorgio Bucci all had clear rounds. And with an amazing time of 30.01 seconds, the Italian rider, last to go in the jump-off, was the winner, ahead of Mexico’s Eugenio Perez Gara (30.27 seconds) and France’s Thierry Rozier.
“Driandria is not usually the fastest of mares, but the jump-off was perfect for her. She jumped really well in the collecting ring before the jump-off, so when we went into the competition ring, I decided to give it my best shot. I was really fast from one to two, then I made a really sharp turn before the second last fence and I went with my instinct regarding the distance. I think that how we performed in these two places really made the difference. I am pleased to win the Grand Prix today, I love this show and I can’t wait to come back in two weeks!” said the champion of the day when he left the ring. So we look forward to seeing him for the next weekend of the Hubside Fall Tour, from 10 to 13 October.
This morning’s CSI2* Grand Prix featured forty-three combinations, ten jump-off riders and finished with another victory for Germany’s David Will and Perry Khr. Once again, the German rider dominated Nicolas Delmotte, who was second, like last week, with Darmani Van T Heike. Switzerland’s Beat Mändli completed the podium with Pole Position II. “I was first to go in the class, so I didn’t have any pointers, in particular regarding the time allowed. So I tried not to lose any time on the track and in the end, I was well within the time allowed. I was worried that Perry would be a bit tired after last weekend but he jumped even better. I knew that the other riders would go really fast in the jump-off so I took a lot of risks on the approach to the double, then I did nine strides in the next line, where the others did it in ten and I turned very tightly after the vertical at the end of the line. I think that’s where I made the difference. I was worried about the French riders, especially Nicolas Delmotte who is always really quick and who was one of the last to go in the jump-off. It’s an amazing sport in which you can never be sure who is going to win before the class is over. And the fact that Nicolas finished just a few seconds behind me goes to prove this! I’m delighted to have won twice in a row!” smiled the winner after the class.
The HUBSIDE Fall Tour will be back from 10 to 13 October and from 17 to 20 October, at the Ecuries du Golfe de Saint-Tropez for eight new days of international competitions!
Full results here.
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