After a nice portion of dressage, this afternoon in Basel the show jumping sport at the highest level resumed. Over forty competitors came to the start of the 5* speed class over 1.50m, where German Philipp Schulze Topphoff in the saddle of the ten-year-old chestnut mare Carla (Comme Il Faut) provided the winning result.
With a test coming down to speed and agility, it was up to the riders and their horses to throw everything into the fray. German rider Philipp Schulze Topphoff was the best at this, sending the chestnut mare Carla around in a clear 56.43 seconds as the fastest. Frenchman Julien Epaillard managed to get another two seconds off this time, but due to one unfortunate jumping fault in the saddle of Callac de Cyrmanol (Quintago I) he missed out on the win. Bronze went to Luxembourg with Victor Bettendorf and the 13-year-old mare Astuce de la Roque (Kannan), who finished just eight hundredths behind Epaillard's final time.
For Belgium, Jérôme Guery also set a rock-solid ride on the back of the thirteen-year-old Holstein mare Cristel. In a time of 57.77 seconds they snatched fourth place, more than half a second ahead of Briton Jack Whitaker and the grey stallion Equine America Valmy de la Lande (Mylord Carthago).
Photo: © Tomas Holcbecher for Equnews