Victory for Julien Epaillard and Maikel van der Vleuten in the evening sessions of IFEMA MADRID HORSE WEEK
In 2021 he won the three highest competitions of IFEMA MADRID HORSE WEEK CSI5*W. This year Julien Epaillard has started the 2022 edition with clear intentions of repeating. Coming in second place in the first competition held in the afternoon with fences of 1.45m, Julien Epaillard did not forgive in the second, the Ciudad de Madrid Trophy. The French rider prevailed over heights of 1’50 with his magnificent “Caracole de la Roque”.
The large public, who witnessed the competition that opened the Friday night session in IFEMA MADRID was able to enjoy a Julien Epaillard in his best shape. The Haras de la Bosquetterie rider was a hurricane on the track designed by Javier Trenor, establishing a difference of almost 3 seconds over his rivals.
And that on a course where riders and horses of a very high level were also competing. Grand prizes (31,500 euros for the winner) and a layout that offered options to cut, motivated the many riders of the international circuit that come together at IFEMA, to perform at their best.
Julien Epaillard however gave his rivals no chance. With an impressive run with “Caracole de la Roque” that he completed in 55.25 seconds, he beat the runner up, the Irishman Denis Lynch with “GC Chopin Bushi “, by more than 2 seconds (57.86). They were the only ones of the 47 participants in this Ciudad de Madrid Trophy, who completed their course with a clear round in less than 60 seconds. The current Olympic champion, the British Ben Maher, was third with “Exit Remo”.
At the trophy awards ceremony, coming in fifth place in the final classification, was the home hero Eduardo Álvarez Aznar, who offered a magnificent show with a promising 9-year-old, a French saddle called “D’Orient Batilly”.
Spanish representatives that also made a clear round were, Sergio Álvarez Moya coming in seventh with “Frappant”, Pilar Lucrecia Cordón with “Flair” and Manuel Fernández Saro with “Jarlín de Torres”.
The Councilor for Tourism of the Madrid City Council, Almudena Maíllo, presented the trophy to the winner of the event, Julien Epaillard.
The intense day spent on the centre court of IFEMA MADRID HORSE WEEK
concluded with the full stands containing a lively audience that enjoyed the Six Bars competition. Here ten pairs competed for victory with Maikel van der Vleuten as final winner.
The first course consisted of six fences in two combinations. The last combination consisted of four verticals, the last one having a height of 1.62 metres. Of the 10 riders who started the competition, six finished with clear rounds, qualifying for the first tiebreaker. Jesús Garmendia with “Valut 2” was very close, but made a fault the penultimate vertical.
In the first tiebreaker, also with a layout of six verticals, the last had a height of 1.72 metres. Four of the five riders who disputed it finishes with a clear round. The German Philipp Weishaupt, winner of this competition in the first edition, decided to retire with “Che Fantástica”.
The ringmaster raised the height of the last vertical of the second tiebreak by ten centimetres. Here the layout, unlike previous routes, had one combination of four verticals. All three participants finished this course with a maximum height was 1.82 metres, with a clear round.
The last jump-off, with the final vertical at 1.92 metres, was disputed by two riders, since Eiken Sato decided to retire with “Calcento JRA”. Martin Fuchs, number two in the FEI ranking, made a bar fall with “Commissar Pezi”, while Maikel van der Vleuten and “Dywis HH” finished it all with a clear round, taking the win.
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