Patrice Delaveau and Vestale de Mazure HDC won Saturday night's Prix du 24 Faubourg at the Saut Hermès. Photo (c) Saut Hermès.
For the second consecutive year, the Grand Palais hosted an evening event – the Prix du 24 Faubourg. The speed competition saw 33 pairs jumping a course of ten obstacles, with the last one being a narrow joker at 1.60m.
Again, it was the Marseillaise that ended this second day at Saut Hermès. Second in the afternoon’s Prix GL events, Patrice Delaveau now went on to win riding Vestale de Mazure HDC (Landor S x Quidam de Revel) after scoring the maximum of 65 points, being the only one to drop the clock under 44 seconds: 43''77.
"I went in as no. four, at the very beginning of the class and I was hoping to stay in the lead. The class seemed very long!” smiled Delaveau. “Especially as earlier in the day, I was beaten in the Prix GL Events, also with Vestale. Tonight, there were serious contenders that were able to beat me, especially at the end of the class. Of the 33 riders at start, 25 were able to win! I took all the risks to win, which surely pushed some to make mistakes. I was lucky, it was my day! "
The Frenchman took his revenge on Felix Hassmann, winner of the Prix GL Events, second in this Prix du 24 Faubourg riding Balzaci (Lilith x Landadel), to a time of 44''42. Hassmann’s compatriot Philipp Weishaupt finished third on Belo Horizonte (Baloubet du Rouet x Clearway) with a time of 44''68 seconds.
Text and picture © Saut Hermès