The 25th Cannes International Jumping offered two highly eventful prizes. Jean-Claude Vangeenberg won the E.LECLERC prize, riding Osta Rugs Trésor with zero penalty faults in a time of 38.01 seconds. Swiss rider Beat Mandli took second place (zero faults in 39.18 seconds) and Austrian Thomas Fruhmann was third, denied the victory due to 4 costly penalty points even though he completed his round in 35.12 seconds.
The day concluded with the EURODOCUMENT prize, contested by teams of three pairs (rider/horse). The final ranking was determined by adding together the times of the three pairs plus four additional seconds for each fault incurred.
While the first teams completed their circuits in times around 155 seconds, the first team to set the pace was JAEGER LeCOULTRE, comprising Judy-Ann Melchior from Belgium, Dutchman Harrie Smolders, and Belgian Ludo Philippaerts, clocking under 150 seconds and looking set for a podium finish. However, this was before the last four teams took to the track and successively beat the previous times.
The EURODOCUMENT team (Alvaro Miranda, Roy-Goran Bengtsson, and Rodrigo Pessoa) finished their round with a slight fault, bringing their time to 140.45 seconds.
Following them, the E.LECLERC team – including “Bosty the rocket” (Roger-Yves Bost from France) and Ukrainians Gregory Wathelet and Jean-Claude Vangeenberg (winner of the first prize that evening) – completed their rounds flawlessly in a rapid time of 134.63 seconds. This left the last team no option but to go all out and push for speed.
The French duo Philippe Rozier and Michel Hecart, and British Nick Skelton, representing team Casino BARRIERE de Cannes Croisette, were set to achieve a feat but despite three excellent fault-free courses, the clock stopped at 140.10 seconds – not fast enough to claim the top spot in the EURODOCUMENT prize but swift enough to secure second place, relegating team EURODOCUMENT.
The third and final day of the Jumping started with the Lucien BARRIERE Prize, with 41 riders competing in this speed event (Table C), where each fault added four seconds to the final time. Ukrainian Gregory Wathelet was the fastest, completing a flawless course in 65.34 seconds aboard Lord II Z. Second place went to Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (SWE) and third to Ludo Philippaerts (BEL), who was quicker (64.68 seconds) but incurred a 4-second penalty, resulting in a final time of 68.68 seconds.
45 riders participated in the most anticipated event of the Cannes International Jumping, the Grand Prix of the City of Cannes, part of the GLOBAL CHAMPIONS TOUR (which began in PALM BEACH, USA, won by American Norman Dello Joio). This event followed Table A, so only the top 18 pairs (rider/horse) proceeded to the jump-off after the first round, where faults and time were crucial.
During the second round, three pairs ended with zero penalty points, necessitating a third round to decide the winner, where they had to clear 7 obstacles ranging from 1.50m to 1.63m (including a double) as quickly and faultlessly as possible.
Michel Hecart (FRA) on his small Selle Francais, Itot du Château (just 1.57m at the withers and notably the smallest horse on the global circuit), finished the course in 39.22 seconds with a fault on the penultimate obstacle. “I’m disappointed but pleased. Disappointed because among the three competitors in the third round, I finished third. But pleased to have reached this position because this is a challenging contest with a very strong field of riders, and the first two rounds were very tough,” he shared.
The second rider, Thomas Fruhmann (AUT), finished his course on Sixth Sense in 40.06 seconds with no faults, leaving only Nick Skelton (GBR) on Arko III with the chance to win by completing a fault-free faster round. He was quickest at 38.26 seconds but a fault placed him second.
Regarding the French results, Nicolas Paillot took 8th place, Edouard Mathe 17th, Roger-Yves Bost 19th, Jean-Marc Nicolas 20th, Eugenie Angot 22nd, Philippe Rozier 26th, Hubert Bourdy 27th, and Marie Pellegrin 40th.
We will see all these great riders again at the International Jumping of Monaco from June 22-24, 2006.
Marie B. and Jacky L.
