Patrice Delaveau secured a French victory at the Brussels Stephex Masters on Friday, riding Carinjo HDC (Cascavelle x Landgraf I) to the top in the 1.50 class presented by Audi. It was no easy win though, as Delaveau faced no less than an extreme jump-off consisting of almost half of the 48-rider class, in which he edged out Moroccan rider Abdelkebir Ouaddar on Quickley de Kreisker (Diamant de Semilly x Laudanum). The time difference between them was as tiny as eight hundredths of a second.
Olympic Champion Steve Guerdat ended third on Abfuehrens Happiness (Heartbeat x Lambrusco Ask) - 0.78 seconds behind Delaveau's time. Italy's Piergiorgio Bucci on Casallo Z (Casall x Carthago Z) ended fourth, and Belgium's Rik Hemeryck and Carlitto Van 't Zorgvliet (Burggraaf x Cheenook) placed fifth.
Patrice Delaveau was delighted with this victory: "It's been a while since I won a class on this level, so I'm very pleased. Carinjo is in super form."
Earlier in the day home rider Pieter Devos won the CSI5* 1.45 class on Dream of India Greenfield (Gem of India x Night and Day).