Julien Epaillard (FRA) and Dubai du Cedre © FEI/Benjamin Clark
French speed king Julien Epaillard and his queen Dubai du Cedre clinched the coveted last-to-go spot in the Individual Jumping Final with the quickest clear round in the qualifying competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles (FRA).
From a starting field of 74, a total of 20 jumped clear over another colourful and challenging track designed by Spain’s Santiago Varela and Gregory Bodo from France, who eight-time Olympian Rodrigo Pessoa from Brazil described as “the two masters”.
Pessoa and Major Tom registered one of those important zero scores to slot into 17th place, so is well within the top-30 from 17 nations that have earned their spot in the medal-decider, in which starters will compete in reverse order of merit. The remaining 10 include the UAE’s 21-year-old Omar Adbul Aziz Al Marzooqi, who picked up just a single time fault when last to go with Enjoy de la Mure, plus the quickest four-faulters.
For Epaillard, this was a lot more enjoyable than Saturday’s team medal-decider in which France claimed bronze.
“It was a lot of pressure in the team. I was last to go and playing for a medal and you don’t want to disappoint anyone! Today the weight was off my shoulders and I rode differently, more relaxed. Also, my mare (Dubai du Cedre) is every day more relaxed and it helped me to have more precision. But it was not so easy because it’s not a big, big, course; it’s more delicate and a bit open, which is not the best for me. I like when it’s a bit short (distances) with my mare, but I’m really happy to be to be in the final tomorrow!” said the man who, with the same 11-year-old mare, claimed individual bronze at last year’s European Championship and runner-up spot at this year’s FEI World Cup Final.
Meanwhile, it was an excellent day for the Irish when Shane Sweetnam finished second with James Kann Cruz and Daniel Coyle third with Legacy. The Irish team came into the Games full of medal hopes, but ended up in a disappointing seventh place. However, their flag was flying high once again.
It was important to be quick, so that if a fence fell, you could still make the cut with four faults. Posting his clear round in 73.35 seconds, Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz clinched it easily.
He left a fence on the floor in Friday’s team final, but there was no mistake with his 11-year-old grey gelding. “We didn’t really have the rub of the green on Friday actually,” he said. “When I watched the video of my round, it was like he just breathed on that fence. But that’s just show jumping for you. You have to have a little bit of luck, and today we had it on our side,” he added.
Coyle has been spectacular from the outset. His mare Legacy hasn’t touched a pole through three rounds of jumping, and she was still bouncing around the 14-fence course.
“I don’t know what to say anymore!” he said. “She was really fresh again. She’s 14 now, but her mind doesn’t think it! Obviously, she’s feeling great, and in the warmup, already I felt that. I was expecting her to be a little tired, but then when she was fresh, I thought, okay, I need to change a little bit how I want to ride her today, otherwise I’ll end up making a mistake,” he said.
The Irishman wasn’t feeling at his best himself because he had had food-poisoning and was ill all night. “I was under a lot of pressure today in all the wrong ways! But I was just trying to get through the finish with a good score, because after this week my mare deserves to be in the final no matter what. So I would have been disappointed if she wasn’t there,” he said.
The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Uricas van de Kattevennen finished fourth, ahead of Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs with Leone Jei and Steve Guerdat on Dynamix de Belheme in fifth and sixth places. The Swiss failed to qualify for the team final, so it was redemption day.
Reigning European champion Guerdat blamed himself for his less-than-satisfactory performance last Thursday. “My mare doesn’t have that much experience even though she’s 11; she hasn’t jumped so many really big championships, so she can be a little bit spooky, which may have affected her the first day. I didn’t give her enough confidence, so I tried to stay a bit calmer today and trust her, even though it wasn’t that easy prior to the class, but I must say she gave me a great feeling at the first jump and I felt, okay, she’s back to normal, so I could concentrate on giving her an easy ride and not overdo things like I did the first day,” he explained.
Defending individual Olympic champion, Great Britain’s Ben Maher, finished 28th with his mare Dallas Vegas Batilly, who sent the wall tumbling to the ground three fences from home for four faults. He was relieved that his time was fast enough to get him through to the finale.
“I like to keep it exciting!” he said with a laugh afterwards. “We are in and that’s all the matters. I don’t know what happened there. She felt amazing today, but she was very, very lively outside already this morning and she was playing a bit in the warmup, but when I got in the ring, she honestly was jumping as good, if not better, than the other days.”
Trying to understand why his horse seemed to mis-read the fence she demolished, he said, “I guess there’s a big shadow by the wall there now. She just rolled around the corner, and as she took off it just took her by surprise, I think. Luckily, I’m a little older and experienced and we made a quick recovery to get home,” said the man who helped take team gold for his country in Friday’s Jumping team final.
QUOTES:
Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann, who jumped clear with King Edward: “He has so much power and he normally grows into the championships. I mean this is not the first one he does! And he always comes out better and better every day.”
Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa, talking about competing at his eighth Olympic Games, this one with the background of the Chateau de Versailles: “Every Games is different and they are all special, but this one is extra special because of the backdrop, and the atmosphere and not one empty seat! And you have to kind of pinch yourself to get going, because it’s really incredible – the fans really turned up and the sport this week has been incredible – it’s really special to compete in a place like this. It’s unique. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’m so happy that we got to do it!”
Frenchman Julien Epaillard, talking about his horse Dubai du Cedre: “I can ask her to jump a house! She always tries, she fights, she has such a big heart and so much scope. My biggest problem is to know how to manage her energy in the beginning of the track, whether she will be with me or fighting with me. But she feels really good right now.”