In Doha today the CSI5* competition started with a 1m50 class in which there was a direct race against the clock. When it comes to speed, there is one man to beat and today he proved too fast for everyone. Julien Epaillard counted on his Safari d'Auge (by Diamant de Semilly) to jump a clear round in 58.44 seconds. This put him a whopping 2.5 seconds faster than his first pursuer Maurice Tebbel. "Safari is simply a very fast horse," laughed the Frenchman afterwards.
Maurice Tebbel rode Chacco's Son (by Chacco-Blue) to second place. The duo left all the bars in the spoons and finished in 60.94 seconds. Augustin Covarrubias and Larbraker (by Larino) completed the podium after a clear round in 62.69 seconds.
Eduardo Alvarez Aznar (Legend) and Gin D (Bart Bles) completed the top five.
Picture: Marco Villanti