LA BAULE, France--McLain Ward on Imperial HBF rode a beautiful, smooth and fast jump-off round to place third to Germany’s Daniel Deusser on Otello de Guldenboom in the CSIO5* 1.60m Rolex Grand Prix Ville de La Baule on Sunday, June 8.
McLain Ward on Imperial HBF Eight went clean from a starting field of 50 over the course set by Grégory Bodo of France, and Ward was fourth to go in the jump-off.
First to go in the jump-off, Pedro Veniss of Brazil on Nimrod de Muze Imperio Egipcio put pressure on those to come with a clear round in 39.77 seconds, but, it did not look impossible to beat his time.
Next to go, Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden on Minute Man had two down, and Scott Brash on Hello Folie had four faults in 40.91 seconds.
With four very fast riders left to go after him, Ward left out strides from one to two and from two to three and made tight turns to finish in 39.17 to set the time to beat..
Imperial is a very exciting new ride for Ward, who has only shown him a few times but has already gone clean three times in the three major classes in which he has shown him.
"McLain loves this horse," said chef d'equipe Robert Ridland. "He's smiling every time he comes out of the ring on him."
RICCARDO PISANI of Italy and Richie Vogel of Germany both had rails down trying to beat Ward.
Rene Lopez Lizarazo of Colombia on Londina had made the jump-off despite hitting a number of fences, a couple quite hard,and he then managed to go clean in the jump-off in 38.36 to eventually finish second.
What Lopez perhaps sacrificed in terms of style during his jump-off, he made up for in terms of speed – and also in support from the crowds, as he is considered almost as a home rider after being based in France for decades.
With a reputation as one of the fastest riders on the circuit, Deusser knew what had to be done and took all the risk to cross the finish line in an in 37.22 seconds to receive a standing ovation from the fantastic audience in La Baule
“My advantage was that I was last to go, so I knew what I had to do,” Deusser said. “At the beginning of the jump-off I was really doubting a little bit about the strides between no. one and two and also into the double. But when I saw McLain, there was actually not so much to doubt about anymore, you had to do one stride less to the double and you had to try to leave as many strides out as possible. I'm very, very happy and delighted that my horse thought the same way as what I wanted to do and followed me.”
“It's a fantastic day for everybody, but for me especially," said Deusser. "We bought Otello three years ago and you always have an idea or a vision about what horses could do but they still have to perform, they still have to develop and at the end also deliver a little bit. Otello already had a couple of wins in smaller classes up to 1.50m over the last few months, but this is the first five-star Grand Prix he wins and that of course makes the whole team very proud.”
Lopez Lizarazo had to settle for second, Ward for third, Veniss for fourth and Brash for fifth.
During the presentation, standing on the podium, Deusser sprayed the champagne about, but Ward escaped the worst of it while Deusser really soaked Lopez, eventually tipping the bottle over Lopez' head, who then grabbed the bottle from Deusser and returned the favor, much to the amusement of the crowd.
