The Belgian riders are doing great in Piazza di Siena! Just now the CSIO5* Grand Prix qualifier over a height of 1m55 was held, a competition in which participants could also collect Longines ranking points. Those who wanted a chance at victory first had to qualify themselves for the jump-off. In total fourteen combinations succeeded in doing so and the top seven was able to stay double clear. Ultimately it was Gregory Wathelet who was too fast for everyone. Yesterday he won the silver medal with team Belgium in the 5* Nations Cup and now he adds another great performance to that.
For this GP qualifier, Grégory Wathelet was in the saddle of the BWP stallion Iron Man van de Padenborre (by Darco). The two went through the jump-off at lightning speed, leaving all the fences up. They finished in a time of 36.97 seconds and nobody was able to beat that time.
Roger Yves Bost came pretty close with Ballerine du Vilpion (by Baloubet du Rouet). Together they flew through the jump-off in a time of 37.15 seconds and that was just enough for second place. Third place was again for Belgium thanks to Jérôme Guéry and the BWP mare Margriet de Mariposa (by Nabab de Reve). Lorenzo de Luca followed in fourth place with Cash du Plessis. Laura Kraut and Calgary Tame (by Old Chap Tame) closed the top five.
Click here for the complete results.
Picture: ph. Sport e Salute / S. Ferraro