Edited press release from Hubside Jumping de Valence

The first highlight of this weekend's CSI4* event at Hubside Jumping de Valence, France, was Thursday’s 1.45m class, where home rider Jean Luc Mourier and his faithful partner Captain Keen (Cornet Obolensky x Acord II) went out on top. 

There were twenty-seven horse-and-rider combinations lined up to compete over the track set by Grégory Bodo, who recently returned from Tokyo where he has been serving as assistant to Olympic course builder Santiago Varela. 

It was Nicolas Delmotte (FRA) on the young and promising Citadin du Château (l'Arc de Triomphe*Bois Margot x Diamant de Semilly) who set the standard with a clear round in 63.37 seconds. However, soon after, Marie Demonte (FRA) and Manchester (Quidam de Revel x Codex) set the new time to beat at 62.93 seconds and it took all the know-how of long-time partners Simon Delestre (FRA) and Chesall Zimequest (Casall x Concerto II) to once again change the provisional standings when they crossed the finish line in 61.57 seconds. It looked hard to beat, but Jean-Luc Mourier and his veteran Captain Keen managed to shave off a second taking the win home in 60.46 – pushing Delestre down to runner-up position, followed by Victor Bettendorf (LUX) in third with Astuce de La Roque (Kannan x Quick Star) and Demonte in fourth. 

“He's seventeen, so every time he delivers a great performance, I'm really happy because I don't know for how long he can stay in this kind of shape,” Mourier said after his win. “I had seen Simon Delestre, who had a very quick round. I thought it was going to be really hard to beat him, so I started off in a good tempo from the first jump. I took out strides, which is probably what made the difference. We talked about it in the collecting ring, I don't think he took this option, but I tried… and it worked!”