Text © World of Showjumping

After topping Thursday's CSI4* 1.50m Prix Espace Beaujolais Agglo and Saturday's CSI4* 1.50m Prix ETA Serge Perraud with Cancun Torel Z (Cosinhus x Grannus), France's Julien Epaillard concluded his weekend at CSI4* Jumping International Mâcon Chaintré 2024 by taking the top honours in Sunday's CSI4* 1.55m Grand Prix of Mâcon – in memory of Patrick Journet – with his home-bred Donatello d'Auge (Jarnac x Hello Pierville).

Stopping the clock on 41.84 in a jump-off between seven horse-and-rider combinations, the current world number four took the win ahead of Jérôme Guery (BEL) and Quel Homme de Hus (Quidam de Revel x Candillo) – a pair that won silver at the 2022 FEI Jumping World Championship in Herning – in second in 44.71, while Pia Reich (GER) and PB Loewenherz (Levisto Z x Contender) placed third in 51.34, followed by Mark McAuley (IRL) and Destinee de Vains (Untouchable 27 x Tlaloc M) in fourth and Megane Moissonnier (FRA) aboard Bracadabra (Pacific Des Essarts x Couleur Rubin) in fifth. 

"The first round was perfect. Seven riders for a jump-off is ideal," Epaillard said in a press release from Jumping International Mâcon Chaintré. "Donatello wasn't in great shape after Fontainebleau and Windsor, so I gave him a few weeks to completely rest. Everything was going well from a veterinary perspective, so I turned him out with his pals and he’s in great form again here. He seems to be in good spirits again! There's a great atmosphere here in Mâcon. The horses are accommodated in big, permanent boxes, the rings are excellent, we have plenty of room to work well and the conditions for the grooms are also very good. The people here are lovely, which is an added bonus. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone!”

“It's true that Quel Homme is making his return to this level of competition after a long absence," the second placed Jérôme Guery said in a press release from Jumping International Mâcon Chaintré. "I felt he was in good form and I thought it was time to work on the jump-offs again, because that's also part of getting him fit again. I can't go as fast as Julien Épaillard, but the horse is responding perfectly to our expectations at this stage and the whole team is very happy to see him back in this form. It's very promising for the future. It's been a great weekend here, I’ve had some great wins and been placed a lot. We came here to train the horses but also to see where we were with Quel Homme in the Grand Prix, so the results are very positive.”