They won it in 2013, and today they did it again: Patrice Delaveau and Ornella Mail HDC went out on top in the prestigious and traditional La Baule Derby.
A classic in the showjumping calendar, that is the Derby Région des Pays de La Loire which today had fourteen riders lined up for the challenge. Three of them did not finish the derby track, none where clear and seven riders had eight faults or more in the meeting with a difficult mixture of cross country obstacles such as ditches and banks together with traditional showjumping fences. The quartet on for faults ended up on top of the result list.
Delaveau and the 14-year-old mare by Lando x Alligator Fontaine are true derby specialists, the pair also won the 2011 Falsterbo Derby as well as finishing third in last year's edition of the La Baule Derby. Today, they took their second derby win at the French event. "I am very happy to win the derby again after the 2013-edition. Ornella is still unbelievable, especially when she is in La Baule," said Delaveau after his win.
Delaveau had to see four faults added to his final score, but with a time that was nearly ten seconds faster than that of runner-up Wout-Jan van der Schans on Zorro (Numero Uno x Cordalme Z) the French rider still outclassed his competitors. Third place went to Jerome Guery on Chillipepper (Cartogran x Glorial), another three seconds behind Van der Schans.
Text © World of Showjumping // Picture © Tiffany van Halle