The sound of the Marseillaise rounded off the first day of the 2018 Saut Hermès, in the magnificent Grand Palais in the heart of Paris. Philippe Rozier, 2016 Olympic team champion, finished this 1.50m-class against the clock in the fastest time on Rêveur de Kergane (Hornet Rose x Elan de la Cour).

“I’m over the moon,” smiled Philippe. “Winning here is just incredible! Particularly with all these amazing horses like Hermès Ryan and Silver Deux de Virton*HDC. It really is quite something! I am delighted because Rêveur was fantastic today, and it is always great to win in front of my horse’s owners, Mr and Mrs Banet. Everything went really well on the course, it seemed easy. I wanted to ride quickly to get into the rankings. Right from the first obstacle, everything went well; I always had the right distances. I really enjoyed it out there. And at my age, I need to!”

Twenty of the 46 couples that started the class managed to complete clear rounds, over a track designed by Spanish course-designer Santiago Varela Ullastres, who is working at the Grand Palais for the first time and who will be responsible for the World Cup Finals in Paris in just a month’s time. For a long while, the Parisian public thought there would be three French riders on the podium, but Belgian rider Nathan Budd, who was the second-to-last rider out, finally took second place. Riding Balder Van De Katelijnkouter (Baloubet du Rouet x Orlando), the 25-year-old rider - ranked 649th in the world - finished in a time of 61.30 seconds. Simon Delestre, Hermès partner rider, and Kevin Staut, Olympic team champion, came third and fourth respectively, riding Hermès Ryan (Hugo Gesmeray x Ryon d´Anzex) and Silver Deux de Virton*HDC (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Heartbreaker).