Jessica Springsteen: “I hope the selector has watched the Grand Prix, I really want to compete in Tokyo”
The US lady riders were highly anticipated and they were anything but disappointing! In the HUBSIDE JUMPING Grimaud-Gulf of Saint-Tropez’s CSI 4* Grand Prix, America’s Jessica Springsteen won ahead of two riders from Rhône-Alpes, Olivier Perreau and Mégane Moissonnier.
The United States were fittingly represented in this Grand Prix’s final line-up: for her first representation, the legendary Beezie Madden finished sixth!
In the initial round of this Grand Prix, the first clear rounds were not immediate and only seven combinations managed to find the key to the course designed by Spain’s Javier Trenor Paz Marcos Nuñez. The stars such as France’s Julien Epaillard and Germany’s Christian Ahlmann didn’t makeit past the first round…Switzerland’s Edwin Smits on Farezzo was the surprise in this Grand Prix and was first to jump clear: as a result, he had the difficult job of going first in the jump-off.
And when it was his turn, the Swiss rider proved he was in fine form and was double clear! After him, Jérôme Hurel, one of the three French riders qualified, with Byron du Telman, had one down and any chance that he had of winning went out of the window. Jessica Springsteen and Rmf Tinkerbell, who were luckier, set a very high standard and greatly improved on the Swiss rider’s time: they shaved 4 seconds off the time to beat! Austria’s Max Kühner on Eic Coriolis des Islesgave it his all and was also double clear, but was three seconds slower than the incredibly fast Springsteen. Beezie Madden and Garant, who jumped clear, suffered the same fate as they were five seconds slower. The riders from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes could have eventually represented a threat. Loire’s Olivier Perreau, who was second last to go on GL events Venizia d’Aigully, missed out winning by twenty-four hundredths of a second; Mégane Moissonnier on Cordial also lost any hope of victory as she was almost three seconds slower. Despite this, they finished second and third respectively in the HUBSIDE JUMPING Summer Tour’s first 4* Grand Prix.
“I’m delighted! Tinkerbell jumped superbly, in a very regular and constant way. She deserves to win this 4* Grand Prix. I am really pleased how things went here today! The first round wasn’t too easy and I realised that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for my mare. But she is really bighearted and gave it her all. In the jump-off, I was the third rider to go out of seven, so I had to take all the risks. But she is very fast naturally and very willing, so both of these qualities were a huge advantage. We will see if this result will have an impact on my Olympic selection.
But I am not going to put myself under pressure; I aim to have regular results and I’ll see if the selector has watched this Grand Prix; I’d be surprised if he didn’t, but I don’t want to speak on his behalf” (laughs), said the Boss’s daughter.
Next week the show will boast a fifth star and will play host to a CSI 5*, a CSI 2* and a CSI 1*starting on 17 June. The line-up of riders may well be just as incredible as in the past weeks!
Full results HERE