Ireland’s Ciaran Nallon pulled off a sensational victory in today’s feature 1.50m CSI5* class at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Rabat, steering the 12-year-old gelding Christians Carado (s. Christian x Columbus) to top spot in a nail-biting jump-off.
Nallon turned in a masterclass of speed and precision, crossing the timers double-clear in 39.65 seconds to edge out a world-class field. Speaking after his win, an elated Nallon admitted: "I really didn’t expect this. I didn’t have the fastest horse, and I still stand by that, but his sheer willpower is unmatched. I think that made all the difference today. We took the advantage after the double combination." The winning gelding was bred by Matthias Bojer.
Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano came agonizingly close to catching the Irishman, settling for runner-up honors aboard Nikolaj de Music (s. Kannan x Nabab de Reve, bred by Lelie Walter) after stopping the clock in 40.26 seconds. Germany’s Christian Ahlmann rounded out the podium in third, piloting the 9-year-old stallion Diamantino (s. Diamant de Semilly x Zento, bred by Walter Ulan) to a clean round in 40.48 seconds.
Maikel van der Vleuten narrowly missed out on a podium finish for the Netherlands, securing fourth place with the veteran gelding Beauville Z N.O.P. (s. Bustique x Jumpy des Fontaines) in a time of 40.51 seconds. Germany’s Sandra Auffarth claimed fifth spot with Comcador OLD (s. Comme Il Faut x Duke of Hearts) in 40.99 seconds.
It was also a remarkably strong showing for the Belgian contenders, who dominated the top ten. Annelies Vorsselmans led the Belgian contingent in sixth place, posting a clean jump-off round in 42.30 seconds aboard C. Kulottie W Z (s. Comme Il Faut x Guidam). Jérôme Guery delivered the fastest four-fault round in the jump-off to take eighth with Quito de Mariposa (s. Comme Il Faut x Air Jordan Z) in 39.63 seconds, closely followed by Nathan Budd in ninth with H'aubigny de Talma (s. Ogrion des Champs x Kashmir van Schuttershof) on four faults in 41.22 seconds. Abdel Saïd completed the top ten aboard Wathnan Calvaro (s. Cascadello x Quidam de Revel) with an eight-fault tally in 40.90 seconds.
Further down the order, Pieter Devos finished 11th with Rainbow van't Zorgvliet after picked up time and jump-off faults, while Gilles Thomas just missed out on a jump-off slot, finishing 12th on Plus Belle van T&L with a single time penalty in the opening round.
