WELLLINGTON, Fla.--Abdel Saïd of Egypt rode his own Bandit Savoie to win the $401,000 Grand Prix CSI5*, on Saturday, March 13 at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Abdel Said on Bandit Savoie (Photo by Sportfot)In the third CSI5* of the 2021 winter circuit, a field of 39 starters competed over the 1.60m track built by Ireland’s Alan Wade, with nine jumping clear to qualify for the jump-off.
Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa set the pace early as the first to return on Carlito’s Way 6, clean in a time of 41.45 seconds, fast, but leaving door was left open.
Fourth of nine to return, Cian O’Connorof Ireland on Kilkenny left a stride out down the final line to move into the lead, clean in 39.09 seconds.
Next to go, Saïd opted to make up time through the turns, to take over the lead in 38.70 seconds.
It was the pair following Saïd that kept everyone on the edge of their seats as Daniel Deusser of Germany on Killer Queen VDM was clean, but stopped the clock just one-hundredth of a second off the leading time in 38.71 seconds.
SO IT WAS Saïd who won on the gelding he purchased in September from the number one ranked rider in the world, Steve Guerdat.
“He is a feisty little horse who is definitely a trier,” said Saïd of the gelding. “I love the fire he has in him. It was causing us to have some rails at the past few shows because I didn’t really know him, but I sold my two main grand prix horses earlier in the circuit, so he had to really step up."
“I must say today going into the jump-off after the first round I was so happy with how he went,” said Saïd. “I just wanted to do my own round and see where I ended up. I didn’t really go until I really had to win today, but I like to go in the jump-off, and it just worked out today. Everything clicked a little more, and I was really happy.”
Deusser followed up on his fourth-place finish in the WEF 7 CSI5* grand prix with a second in the eveing's Grand Prix..
“In the last couple of weeks, she has proven herself,” said Deusser. “She is a mare with unbelievable scope and she knows what to do with her range; she wants to leave the poles up. Today was a fantastic round for her. I didn’t get the best distance to the second to last fence. I was really planning to do the eight strides, and she has a big stride, but I could not make her do it. I was so deep to the second to last fence, and that’s where I lost it.”
After sweeping the top five spots in Thursday’s qualifier, O’Connor kept the Irish streak alive as he was third in the grand prix.
“He’s a super horse,” said O’Connor. “I only got him last September when he was 8 years old. It was really a night of firsts for me; first time under the lights, first time in a five star, first time jumping water in the big competition, so I didn’t really know what to expect. When I walked the course, I thought it was a very difficult test. The verticals were very tall. I must say the course was nice. This time of year, we’re all just getting up and running and the combinations were fair and Alan Wade did a super job with the course. I’m just thrilled with the horse. He was only half a second off my good friend Abdel here, so we’re really, really pleased. I couldn’t be happier.”
It was a historic night for Saïd as his victory marked the first time an Egyptian rider has won a CSI5* Grand Prix in the history of the Winter Equestrian Festival.
“I’m really, really proud,” said Saïd of the opportunity to represent his country in international competition. “Especially now because when my top horses got sold, I felt the pressure of the Olympics and whether or not it would happen. I really felt the pressure the last few shows, and I’m just happy that I have a horse that I can do this with. Obviously, this is a very, very high level and the Olympics aren’t too far away, but we will see where we end up.”
“I think we are blessed,” said O’Connor of the current situation. “We spoke about it in the prize giving; to be able to compete here is extraordinary this time of year. The horse show here at WEF does a super job with the COVID protocols and to be able to jump at such a high level and be up and running so early on, we feel privileged. It’s a huge advantage for us because other people aren’t jumping, things are canceled and so on. It’s awful with this herpes virus in Europe as well, so we think about everyone who has been affected by that, but we feel fortunate to have planned to come here and that we are all able to jump in a very safe environment.”
Four people were honored in special presentations prior to the start of the grand prix.
David Distler and Leslie Howard were inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame, while WEF show manager David Burton was presented with the new trophy in his honor, the David E. Burton Jr. Perpetual Trophy for Extraordinary Service, and Equestrian Sport Productions President Michael Stone was awarded the Wellington Equestrian Lifetime Achievement Award for their incredible work in the past year to make horse shows possible at PBIEC.
