In front of a big crowd at tonight's Stephex Masters it was home rider Niels Bruynseels that surprised the competition and gave his Belgian crowd the win they were looking for in a jump-off with 12 top contestants.
And what a win it was for Bruynseels who surprised Olympic riders Tiffany Foster and Steve Guerdat by producing a unstoppable second round. Aboard his BWP bred mare Gancia de Muze (by Malito de Reve) the Belgian rider put 42.61 seconds on the clock. A time that was no match for Tiffanny Foster and Brighton (by Contendro II) who crossed the finish line more than two seconds later.
Swiss Steve Guerdat even had to give in a little bit more riding his mare Bianca (by Balou du Rouet) around the course as the last and third rider to be clear in this jump-off.
As it was a competition consisting of two rounds not only the rider that had a clear round were able to advance to the jump-off. But the ten that did were joined by four riders that had one penalty point for time there first time around the course. It were exactly these penalty points that held Billy Twomey and Piergiogio Bucci from winning.
Twomey did put in a fast time in the second round with his KWPN bred Tin Tin, but finished fourth due to his one penalty in the first round. Italian rider Bucci and Banca Popolare Bari Cassandra followed the Irish example finishing in fifth after a clear ride in 46.42 seconds.
