© PSV.J.Morel
LONGINES GRAND PRIX - VICTOR BETTENDORF, SIMPLY UNBEATABLE!
Luxembourg's Victor Bettendorf won the Longines Grand Prix on Friday evening, riding Foxy de la Roque. As usual, he came out firing on all cylinders and no-one could match his performance. Harrie Smolders (NED) was second, ahead of the French rider Simon Delestre in third.
A total of 47 riders took part in the Longines Grand Prix. In the end, only eight pairings found the answers to the 13 obstacles and 16 difficulties on the course designed by French course designer Grégory Bodo.
Those who made it through to the jump-off included: Switzerland's Martin Fuchs, the three-time winner of the Longines FEI World Cup Grand Prix stage at Equita Lyon, who finally did not take part in the round against the clock, the current title holder Grégory Wathelet (BEL) and France's Simon Delestre and Nicolas Delmotte.
At the end of an exhilarating jump-off in front of a raucous crowd, it was Luxembourg's Victor Bettendorf who took first place, as is so often the case in this exercise. He rode his young 9-year-old bay to a second clear round in a time of 36"06. The other riders pulled out all the stops, but to no avail. Harrie Smolders and Monaco N.O.P crossed the line in 37"46, while Simon Delestre, team bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics this summer, riding his agile Dexter de Fontenis, completed his round in 37"58. The tone is set for the FEI Longines World Cup Grand Prix on Sunday.
What they said:
Victor Bettendorf: "Foxy de la Roque is truly amazing and showed that again tonight. Only last year, in Deauville, she took part in her first event counting towards the world rankings, and since then she has gone from strength to strength. Every time a few centimetres were added, she gave the impression that she was used to jumping that height every weekend. This evening, the course designer gave us a good jump-off in which we could easily take strides off, which is very easy with Foxy, since she has a lot of amplitude in her stride. She is so obedient and gives so much, and has so much talent that I'm never worried. I wouldn't say that the courses are easy, but when you have a mare like her, who is really confident, it's almost as if I go into the arena just to have fun; I know that if I ride well, I'll finish with a clear round. Especially, as I don't have to think about the time. She has so much energy that she almost needs slowing down. To sum everything up, I really enjoyed myself tonight."
Simon Delestre: "Dexter jumped really well on both courses. In the jump-off, I managed to go pretty fast. In the end it wasn't enough, but I'm very happy with third place because the attitude was good. The aim is to do well in the Grand Prix on Sunday with him. It's always a pleasure to come to Lyon, the fans are great and they cheer us on. So, we really want to do well."
Results: https://www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2024/longines-equita-lyon-concours-hippique-international-lyon/resultlist_08.html
And earlier in the day...
Local riders took centre stage in the first two classes of the CSI 5*-W competition. Julien Gonin and Estrella de la Batia won the Prix Groupama, a class against the clock at 1.50m. "It's the type of event that really suits Estrella. All I have to do is let her gallop and generally it works out pretty well. I always enjoy taking part in this incredible competition, which I've watch grow since I was very young," said the happy winner.
All the results: https://www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2024/longines-equita-lyon-concours-hippique-international-lyon/#area2