The world's best riders came together in the ring at the Longines Athina Onassis Horse Show in front of an enthusiastic audience on Friday. Truly the highlight of the afternoon, the 1.55m Prix Julius Baer finished the second day of the 4th edition of the Longines Athina Onassis Horse Show on June 2. Only seven pairs out of 38 in the class were able to jump clear over the difficult course designed by Uliano Vezzani to qualify for the jump-off.
Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP), known for being very fast, came close to winning the Prix Julius Baer with Iron Man 111 (Chatman x Capitol I). The Spanish rider was first to start in the jump-off and had a super time of 42.91 seconds. But that was before knowing how fast the day's champions were, the pair of Kevin Staut (FRA) and his mare, Ayade de Septon et HDC.
Like the day before, Staut was last to go in the ring but the story was different on Friday as he mastered his mare, gaining a few hundredths of seconds to reach the top of the podium. Olivier Philippaerts (BEL) on Henna de Goedereede (Argentinus x Heartbreaker), took the third place with a time of 43.50 seconds.
"My mare is in very good condition, she made no faults in almost all of the classes she has jumped. Yesterday, I was a bit under pressure, a jump-off with 11 riders – we made a fault on number 2 and the rest is history as I finished the last jump-off. Today, I prepared my approach to the jump-off in a different way, my mare was calm and this time we were the winners. It's fantastic to win here in St. Tropez, in front of an audience who encourages us, it's extremely pleasant," said Staut after his victory.
Source: Press release from Longines Athina Onassis Horse Show / Picture © Longines Athina Onassis Horse Show