This Tuesday the final of the Jumping Ponies Trophy started at the CHI-W Mechelen. Equivalent to the World Cup for ponies, this final internal it takes place, as for the Seniors, with a Chasse, a Grand Prix-type leap in quality and a final in two heats. After the stages in Lyon and Stuttgart, the only ones on the calendar, nineteen pairs therefore started this morning in the first round in scale C during which a bar added three seconds to the pairs’ clock. Initially about twenty duets should have started but the Frenchman Jack Conlon Gateau, qualified thanks to fifth place in Lyon with Samba van de Groenheuvel, had to forfeit for personal medical reasons, as announced by the Gateau team on social media.
Opener of this final, the French Janelle Rebelo started her Belgian week perfectly. At the reins of Cauroy’s bubbling Dance Floor, who knows how to skillfully juggle in all situations, the Samarian concluded this first course without the slightest penalty. Exploiting the natural speed of Imperial du Blin’s nephew, she broke the clock cells in 65”42, synonymous with fourth place.
Dutch Renske van Middendorp took the lead on Tuesday despite a ground crossbar. Teamed up with Jolly, an eleven-year-old mare, she managed to set a time of 63”94, despite the three-second penalty! By the end of November the pair had already shown good form by proposing two classifications at the CSIP in Lichtenvoorde.
With her very consistent Navayo, fourth in the Stuttgart stage, Laure Tijskens allowed Belgium to climb to second place thanks to a perfect run finished in 65”07. At the reins of the exceptional Zee Tech, which he has been driving for only a few weeks but which has already allowed him to finish third in Stuttgart, Coen Williams put up the third best performance. Despite, once again, a bar on the ground, he finished his course with a total time trial of 65”13.
After two cancellations in 2020 and 2021, we will have to wait until Friday to know the successors of Rhys Williams and K-Little Hero D’18.
Before that, round two will air tomorrow on Clipmyhorse.tv at 5pm.
