Via R&B Presse,
The first weekend of the Moroccan circuit has just ended in the facilities of the Royal Guard of Tetouan, and what a highlight! It was on a challenging Grand Prix designed by Uliano Vezzani that the riders of the CSI4*-W competed in this sunny afternoon, a class that ended with victory of the Frenchman Olivier Perreau and his faithful GL Events Venizia d'Aiguilly.
There were sixty-eight of them at the start of this 1.60m Grand Prix in two rounds, whose time was one of the pitfalls at the beginning of the race - in particular for the Moroccan rider Ali Al Ahrach who, despite his perfect round, was penalized by one time fault. Among them, only the best quarter, seventeen pairs, qualified for the second round. Unlike the major class of the previous day, the scores had not been reset, so the twelve competitors that completed a perfect initial course fought to win this Grand Prix SAR le Prince Héritier Moulay El Hassan.
The first double clear will be signed by Brazilian Felipe Amaral, riding Premiere Carthoes BZ, with a very good time of 49.08 seconds, thus managing to put enough pressure on most of his pursuers and push them to the fault. But that was without counting on the French delegation, which managed to qualify its five representatives in this round against the clock. Two of them will be faster. First of all Emeric George and his faithful Chopin des Hayettes, the pair who won the previous year's Grand Prix de Rabat, will finish their second race in a time of 46.65 seconds. Finally, Olivier Perreau, penultimate to start in the arena, will once again lower the clock without touching any fences by setting the record time of 45.15 seconds.
"This is the second year I've been to the Morocco Royal Tour, and I'm delighted to be back. The program is great, everything is well thought out for horses and riders alike. The course designer is really good. He concocted a technical and faulty course for us, but one without putting the horses in the red. I saw that Emeric was going very fast when I was waiting at the door, so I tried to do the maximum without pushing my mare too hard and by staying calm, because sometimes I take a little too much risk and make a mistake (laughs). My mare is fast, and I can trust her. She always wants to do the right thing.
This is the fourth Grand Prix that the mare has won, in addition to the Saut Hermès she won last March. These performances really pulled me up. I was afraid it would be a stroke of luck, but my mare has been very regular all year round, I am really very happy. After the Nations Cup in Rabat and the Grand Prix in El Jadida, our next objective will be to get as fit as possible for the World Cup Grand Prix in Lyon," said the French rider.
The first stage of the 2019 edition thus ends with magnificent moments of sport, before continuing in Rabat next Thursday for a CSIO that promises to be amazing. The Grand Prix and the Nations Cup will be the highlights of next week, which will delight spectators in the facilities of the Royal Moroccan Equestrian Sports Federation of Dar Es Salaam.