Edited press release from the Morocco Royal Tour

At the Morocco Royal Tour, the star of Tetouan was none other than France's Ines Joly aboard the brilliant 13-year-old Pegasus Bandit Savoie (Qlassic Bois Margot x Alcamera).

36 horse-and-rider combinations set the stage for the CSI4*-W 1.50m Grand Prix de S.A.R Le Prince Heritier Moulay El Hassan. Prince Moulay Abdallah, MRT and Royal Moroccan Federation President, watched on as Joly put together a foot-perfect first round over Louis Konickx's (NED) track for this World Cup qualifier.

At her second MRT tour, Joly was primed and ready to kick it up a gear and take her first CSI4* Grand Prix. Joly, the penultimate rider in the jump-off that counted eleven horse-and-rider combinations, clocked a rhythmical yet efficient 51.14 seconds. 

"It's the first time I tried to really push him, and I haven't been riding him for so long, so I didn't know his behaviour in the jump-off...but he is always giving his best, during the whole week of competition in Tetouan he didn't touch a pole," said Joly. 

“The most important thing with this horse is to keep confident. I don’t jump very big, I just try to keep him happy and without stress, because he is a really shy horse so I have to be careful not to do too much. A lot of times you think you have to jump big in the warm-up, but for this one 1.30-1.35m is good enough,” Joly explained, going on to discuss her own preparation. “I actually have a mental coach, and I am really well-surrounded. I have a great team and they always push me to go further and to fight every day.”

Saudi Arabia's Khaled Almobty continued his great form aboard Spacecake (Stakkatol x Kannan) to take second, after clocking a time of 51.44 in the jump-off. Spain's Teresa Blazquez-Abascal and Nasa de Toxandria (Vertigo Saint-Benoit x Chopin van het Moleneind) completed the podium with a time of 52.31. France's Charles Henri Ferme and Bellini Dufaure de L (Mylord Carthago HN x Tlaloc M) placed fourth, followed by Italy's Filippo Bassan and Cerruti de Kreisker (Conrad x Diamant de Semilly) in fifth.