Just like last year, the Frenchman Julien Epaillard was again the man to beat during the 5* World Cup round in Madrid. Together with his mare Caracole de la Roque (Zandor) he won his seventh victory in a row, a unique achievement.
With fifteen participants in the jump-off, it was a battle till the end. With Caracole de la Roque, Epaillard was the only one to clock in under 43 seconds, and won the gold with a double clear round without contradiction. Daniel Deusser, who also performed well, stopped the clock more than two and a half seconds later on the back of the 11-year-old stallion Bingo Ste Hermelle (Number One d'Iso), which earned him a well-deserved silver medal after a strong competition. Simon Delestre placed third on the podium, less than seven hundredths behind the German, in the saddle of the Selle Français gelding Cayman Jolly Jumper (Hickstead).
Just under a second off the podium, the Italian Piergiorgio Bucci finished fourth on the gray gelding Cochello (Casall), by remaining the last double clear. Ben Maher had one unfortunate fault with the KWPN gelding Exit Remo (San Remo), and thus finished fifth in a time of 42.92 seconds.