BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: Experienced French showjumper Kevin Staut yesterday went the preferred route as the last rider in and picked up a morale-boosting win in the CSI5* 1m50 class at Al Shaqab here.
Knowing the time to beat, Staut and his mare Quismy des Vaux produced a flawless routine to nail the win in 64.56 seconds.
For Sale 6, with Henrik von Eckermann in the saddle, finished second while Chataga, ridden by Gestut Lewitz, clocked a time of 66.43 seconds to come third.
“It sure is a good feeling. It is always an advantage if you go in last,” Staut said afterwards. “Today I was lucky I could ride in last. It is easier in a big class like this. I knew there were not so many clears but I knew who were fast enough.”
“So the mission was not easy but my mare knew the course. I am happy for once that everything worked the way I hoped it would,” he said.
“I think it was a good thing to give her (the mare) rest last year. She’s into competition the last two months only. She won one class in Leipzig. She hasn’t lost much considering she was injured,” Staut added.
In the CSI3* 1m30 class,
Saudi riders grabbed the top
three spots with Fahad Al Eid sealing the victory on Natal de St Martin with a time of 54.53 seconds.
Aloha, ridden by Khaled Abdulrahman Almobty, finished second while Dona Evita, with Khaled Al Eid in the saddle, ended in third spot.
Also yesterday, Olympic champion Carl Hester of Great Britain topped the field in the CDI5* dressage contest, sealing the win with Nip Tuck. Hester accumulated a score of 72.600.
Patrik Kittel, astride Watermill Scandic, finished second (72.460) while Wie-Atlantico de Ymas, with Anders Dahl in the saddle, finished third with a score of 71.960.
Hester, who won the individual team event at the London Olympics, said his ride seemed a bit “tense”.
“He was a little bit tense. Al those things I said to him not to do, he did (laughs). I don’t say anything anymore and he keeps doing it (laughs),” Hester joked.
“There’s a lot in a horse that gets better when they get older. We are happy how he went. He was tense. When you ride horses you know that can happen. He will get better in another eight years and I am looking at that (laughs). He’s old boy. He’s 16,” the Briton said.
Kittel said he was pleased with his second-placed finish behind Hester.
“He’s (Watermill Scandic) also 16. He’s done a lot of things. You think he’d go quieter with age but it was testing conditions today, it was hot. He jumped into the arena. He was like a jumping horse. I was not 100 percent satisfied,” Kittel said.
“When you travel, you don’t know how hot it is and you don’t want to do too much. Circumstance-wise it was a great show. It is a great place — great hotel, a bit of sun, it is like a good holiday. Second to Carl is not too bad (laughs),” he added.
Hester likened his Doha trip to a “holiday”.
“We don’t get chances to do such shows. Back home, they (horses) are in boxes, it’s pouring with rain and it’s a long day (for horses and riders). It is a better experience for all of us — everybody gets a holiday,” Hester said about his trip to Doha.
“Competing is something we all want to do. It is not easy to enjoy big shows but over here it is easy to do such shows. From a training point of view, we give the horses nice time. I am glad I made an effort to come here. It’s a victory on holiday,” he said.
“Of course we are here to do a job. You don’t fly across the world just to do it easy and not hope to win. It is a competition,” Hester said quickly.
The Briton was full of praise for the Al Shaqab Arena.
“You know — something of this sort blows you away. I watched a bit of this on TV last year so I had an idea what the centre was like. But of course that has no bearing when you see it in real life. It is outstanding — the surface and everything about it is outstanding,” Hester, 47, said.
“I hope dressage becomes popular as jumping. I think there are more people this year than last year. I wish this could be a slightly longer tour since you travel so far away for one week. I don’t think anyone of us have anything to complaint about,” he added.
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