Nicolas Touzaint a winner in Fontainebleau

‘I am extremely pleased with my horse. I knew that he was extraordinary, but I have the impression that he has progressed yet again. After the Cross-country event yesterday, he was in really good shape, attentive, diligent, assiduous and jumping well above the poles of the obstacles… He was perfect. He can not be any better than that. A real treat.'

Nicolas Touzaint on his wonderful Galan de Sauvagère wins the CIC***-W in Fontainebleau, the 3rd stage of the Eventing World Cup, a competition which he dominated from start to finish.

Finishing with a clear round in 81 seconds, he won the competition with a total of 46, 40 points. At 26 years of age, he displayed great skill and was incredibly calm. Last to go, he stayed cool from the very beginning of his round. Indeed before he entered the arena, he knew that he had a little bit of leeway and that he could finish with four faults.

Jean-Lou Bigot/ Icare d'Auzay, who followed him very closely with 3.5 points more after the Cross-country event, had twelve faults with his horse on the show-jumping course. Twelve faults which put him back to the 7th position.

‘Entering the arena and knowing that you have the possibility of having 8 faults on the round without it penalising your final result, is always more reassuring. Once I had jumped the first two obstacles, I felt relieved. I really felt that my horse was completely focused and was jumping extremely well. It was up to me not to make any mistakes. It is true that the three other rounds with my other horses who were participating helped me. They allowed me to take stock of the situation. And I was able to remember the course well.’At only 26 years of age, Nicolas Touzaint already excels by his talent: number ten in the World, current Olympic Champion in the team event … the big French name in eventing keeps on winning. Even so it was not certain that he would win here. ‘These competitions are always closely-fought, right from the Dressage test onwards. During the show-jumping event, you need to have the right rhythm early on in your round. This is the most important thing, said Jean Lou Bigot yesterday. Up until the last minute, the ranking could have been completely changed.

Even more so as the course designed by Pierre Michelet, the international course designer was not at all easy. It was made up of 12 obstacles, of a height of 1,25m with a double obstacle (vertical-oxer) on number 4 and a triple obstacle (oxer-vertical-oxer) at the end of the course, which surprised some other pairs of riders and horses…