Both are considered the fastest riders in the world: Richard Vogel and the Frenchman Julien Epaillard. In the race for the victory at the World Cup stage in Lyon, the two engaged in a thrilling duel on Sunday afternoon: Julien Epaillard had created such a fast lap in the course with the 15-year-old Le Coultre de Muze (v. Presley Boy), that the home audience almost gasped. After 38.17 flawless seconds, the journey for the „Flying Frenchman“ and his chestnut, whom he had only taken over a year ago from Philippe Rozier, was over and the two took over the pole position from Edouard Schmitz and Garmin van’t Naastveldhof (v. Chacco Chacco). The Swiss rider finished the race after a swift 38.31 seconds. Then Richard Vogel and his Holstein horse Cloudio (v. Casall) took the stage, and Julien Epaillard could be seen watching the tension on the job site. The world number one and his partner also gave their all and were enthusiastically cheered on by the French audience. And it was a damn close call: 38.20 seconds were displayed on the scoreboard. Richard Vogel had missed out on the victory by a hair’s breadth.
„Yes, it was really close. I lost some time in two places in the steeplechase; I could have saved maybe two galloping jumps. That definitely counts against me; Cloudio jumped really well,“ Richard Vogel summed up after the jump. He was of course happy with second place. Third was the Swiss Edouard Schmitz with Garmin van’t Naastveldhof. Ben Maher and Point Break (v. Action-Breaker) jumped in fourth place ahead of Willem Greve and his 9-year-old Kannan-son Party in de Hus.
Kendra Claricia Brinkop and Paula de Boer-Schwarz competing in the relay
At least 14 pairs had recommended themselves for the jump off after flawless rounds in the course. As the first starter, Kendra Claricia Brinkop showed with the 9-year-old Replay van’t Paradijs (v. Bamako de Muze) how to complete the 1.60m course flawlessly. „I wasn’t really qualified and I made it through. Of course I was happy about that today,“ said Kendra Claricia Brinkop, who placed 13th in the jump off. Paula de Boer-Schwarz and My Miss Marple OLD also showed a great performance with a jump off in the course on 12th place.
Daniel Deusser and his Pepita van T Meulenhof BR (v. El Torreo de Muze) had bad luck right from the start; they made a second mistake, which resulted in eight faults in the end. Eight faults were also recorded in Lyon for Stefan Engbers and Baju NRW (x. Balou du Rouet).
The whole result: HERE