ACTUALITY
But who can stop Julien Épaillard? The rider from Normandy and his faithful Easy Up de Grandry put in another brilliant performance this Friday afternoon in the Prix Toubin Clément (1.55m) in the Princes' arena in Fontainebleau. In this table-A class with jump-off, the recent winner of the Longines FEI Show Jumping World Cup Final left his rivals in his trail, making light of the difficulties on this thirteen-obstacle course, which was nonetheless extremely technical. Once again, with a time of 64.71 seconds, his speed over the course made the difference.
However, the international rivals are waiting in the wings. A number of riders are lying in ambush, ready to pounce on the slightest mistake, such as Germany's Hans-Dieter Dreher, riding Vestamalle des Cotis, who was hot on the heels of the French rider with a clear round and just two tenths of a second slower on the clock. The Belgian rider Gregory Wathelet, on Bond Jamesbond de Hay, took third place on the podium with a clear round of 65.97 seconds in this qualifying event for Sunday's GL events Grand Prix.
"This is just the second outdoor competition of the year for my horse, who is getting back into the swing of things. Last week, he made a few little mistakes. I think it certainly did him good to jump without any pressure. The idea is to have a good weekend here before going to Madrid with him. Depending on how things go in Madrid, we'll see if we're selected for the Cup in La Baule or not. He's a horse that seems to jump well on grass, which it was I noticed with his previous riders. That's why I've got La Baule in my sights; but if he's not ready, it doesn't matter, there is also Aachen afterwards. He's a horse that has a lot of potential and I'm just starting to get to know him a bit. Tomorrow, he will be resting and on Sunday he will be jumping in the GL events Grand Prix. I also brought another horse to the Printemps des Sports Équestres. He's still a little inexperienced, but he has shown some really good abilities, a lot of potential and he is very obedient. Given that he's only 9 years old, a few things still need to fall into place, but he should be jumping in some prestigious events in the future. I'm slowly getting him ready."
CSI YH 1*: RÉMUS DE MARIPOSA AND THE BELGIAN RIDER JÉRÔME GUÉRY WIN THE AUDEVARD FINAL FOR 8-YEAR-OLD HORSES
This Friday, the Petit Parquet in Fontainebleau hosted the CSI YH 1* competition for 8-year-old horses, sponsored by Audevard, with 56 pairings taking part in this highly competitive class. At the end of the first phase of this class with 1.40m obstacles, seventeen couples managed to book their place in the jump-off, including France's Camille Condé Ferreira on Honey Girl Gem, who posted the first double clear round in 40.53 seconds, thereby immediately putting pressure on her rivals. It would take audacity and precision to have a chance of improving on her score.
And in this endeavour, only 7 riders managed to avoid the traps of this course with lots of turns. One of them was Jérôme Guéry, on Rémus de Mariposa, who put in a remarkable performance, taking every option to try to reduce his time on the grandson of Flora de Mariposa. He set a fantastic time of 35.65 seconds, which none of his rivals could improve on. Hitot de Riverland, ridden by François-Xavier Boudant (FRA) and Hexode Ste Hermelle, ridden by Petronella Andersson (SWE), did everything they could, but in vain. In the end, they finished second and third.
Earlier in the day, the women riders took the honours in the first stage of the Master Pro Élite FFE. The class was won by Lalie Saclier from the Ain département, with five of her female compatriots also finishing in the top 10 ahead of tomorrow's final.
What they said:
Jérôme Guéry (BEL), winner of the Audevard Final of the CSI YH 1* - 8 year olds, with Rémus de Mariposa:
"Rémus de Mariposa is an amazing horse. He's one of the best I've ever ridden. I sensed that from the very start, and he has confirmed it with every outing. He is always switched on. I am sure we will see him at the next Olympic Games. I just hope it's with me and that I manage to keep him. He's a special horse and I want to prepare him for the biggest events.
Lalie Saclier (FRA), winner of the first stage of the Master Pro Élite - Prix FFE at 1.50m with Fénomène des Lilas
"When you are in the hunt, you have to find a balance. Riding a clear round but then finding yourself in the 25th place is not really interesting. Today, the goal was to finish in the top twelve without pushing my mare too much. When I left the course, I knew I'd done a good round but I had no idea I was going to win the hunt for first place! It was a nice surprise. Now, all we have to do is continue in the same vein! Technically, I found the two combinations quite tricky: the triple at number 4, after a short option to jump the third obstacle, and the double at number 9 after the half-turn. Today, I started in the first half of riders in the class. It's more difficult because it's a quite hard to know how much risk to take. Fénomène des Lilas is taking part in her first championship here. She's been very consistent since the start of the season! I think she's ready for this championship, but we'll see tomorrow if I am right!
Fénomène was born on our farm, the Lilas stud farm. Her mother, Perle Fine du Val, was my first mare. I rode her when I was twelve. We originally bought her to jump Elite Amateur events, but in the end she turned out to be a real ace. I won events up to 1.45m with her and competed in the European Children's and Junior Championships. Fénomène was a birthday present for my sister, Lolita, on her eighteenth birthday! She wanted foal from Perle so much! I started riding her and trained her up to this level of event, so that makes the whole thing taste even sweeter!
Tomorrow, we'll need to do a double clear round in the final. I'm riding at the end of the class, so I'll have the advantage of being able to watch the first starters. From now on, Fénomène and I have our destiny in our own hands!
Nina Mallevaey (FRA), winner of the CSI 5* - Prix Communauté d'Agglomération du Pays de Fontainebleau at 1.45m with My Clémentine:
"I'm really happy to have won this class with My Clémentine! Since I was starting first, my coach and I came up with a plan to go through the second phase of the course fairly quickly. I think I saved a bit of time on the approach to the last jump and asked Clémentine to go for the first line I saw. She is a really obedient horse and fast over the ground. It's a real source of satisfaction to have won wearing the Number 1 bib, because there were a lot of serious rivals who jumped after me. Fontainebleau is a competition that means a lot to me and Clémentine feels good here too. I used to come here regularly when I was riding in the Pony, Children, Junior and Young-Rider categories. So, it's a real pleasure to be back after five years! The competition is amazing, it's really well organised. What's really great is that the Printemps des Sports Équestres brings together several categories of events, which means we can bring a wide selection of horses, including the youngest. What's more, we get to see a lot of familiar faces again."
LEADERS OF THE FFE PRO MASTERS
AHEAD OF TOMORROW'S FINALS
Master Pro Élite FFE (Stage 1)
Lalie SACLIER & FÉNOMÈNE DES LILAS (0 pt)
Alix RAGOT & KS CARAT (0.41 pts)
Léona MERMILLOD BARON & FIRST TO CASH OUT (1.28 pts)
Critérium Pro1 FFE (Stage 2)
David MELIN & DELTA DE L'AUTROT (1.28 pts)
Dylan RINGOT & O ROCKABILLY (1.91 pts)
Zoé MULLER & FLEUR DU GUE (2.00 pts)
Master Pro 2 FFE (Stage 2)
Verena PEROTTO & COMTES (1.36 pts)
Vincent MOURIER & BABACOOL DE BRENNE (1.69 pts)
Joël CHARTON & ÉTOILE D'OLBICHE (2.66 pts)
PSV - J. Morel