Text © World of Showjumping

Home heroes Julien Epaillard and the 11-year-old mare Dubai du Cedre (Baloubet du Rouet x Diamant de Semilly) topped a field of 73 horse-and-rider combinations in Monday’s Olympic individual qualifier in Versailles. A total of 30 horse-and-rider combinations qualified for Tuesday’s final at Paris 2024, where they will start all over on a score of zero as the individual medals will be decided.

Olympic course designers Santiago Varela (ESP) and Gregory Bodo (FRA) have not disappointed in Versailles, with three tremendous tracks so far. The individual qualifier consisted of fourteen fences and seventeen efforts, which included an open water at no. 4 followed by five or six strides to the Art Deco combination at 5ab. The colourful Boules de neige plank followed at no. 6, with four strides to the Braille system oxer, then seven or eight strides to the Pictograms oxer with a water-tray underneath and six short or five forward strides to the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec upright at no. 9 – which was standing at 1.63m. The Champs-Élysées triple combination at 10abc was followed by a 1.60m Porcelaine de Limoges vertical, before the riders turned right to the last line with a stunning wall at no. 12, on a distance to the Opera Garnier oxer where most opted for five strides, and then six strides to the stunning Le Petit Prince oxer – 1.70m wide – at no. 14. With several options on the many lines, faults spread out, but the combination following the open water and the triple combination were among the biggest challenges as poles hit the ground again and again.

“They are Olympic guys, they are the best there is,” Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) – who is doing his 8th Olympics in Versailles – commented on Varela and Bodo’s course building. “They are so towards asking difficult questions, but always fair to the horses. Alone they are good, and then put the two together, they are double as good. The sport has gotten so technical and so good, the horses are so good, the riders are so good, everything is so sharp – they have to be also, and they are two masters. They have been perfect – as expected.”

The first to deliver a clear was no. four in the ring, Andres Azcarraga (MEX) and Contendros 2 (Contendro I x Drosselklang II) who got their ultimate revenge after having been kept out of the team competition as the 17-year-old stallion failed to pass the first horse inspection in Versailles. 

World no. one Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) posted the next clear with his double world champion and multi-medallist King Edward (Edward x Feo), but not without excitement as the two made a gasp go through the crowd with a small miscommunication about the distance to the oxer at no. 7. “I walked it as a normal four for me, actually. But when I came over, it looked long – and I did one more,” von Eckermann explained. “Then I should have done seven instead, but of course when it was such a short one to the oxer, I had to bring him out and go eight.”

Meanwhile, Olivier Perreau (FRA) and Dorai d’Aiguilly (Kannan x Toulon) – clear in the team final – were maximum unlucky when the mare clipped the back rail on the very last oxer, leaving them out of the individual final. He would not be alone, McLain Ward (USA) was also clear all the way until this fence, but had to see four faults added to his score when Ilex (Baltic VDL x Chin Chin) hit the front rail to agonizingly keep them out of the final.

At the other end of the scale, the Saudi riders were having a good run today with Abdulrahman Alrajhi and Ventago (Van Helsing x Hunter's Scendix) impressing when posting the third clear in the qualifier. Alrajhi would later be joined by his compatriot Ramzy Al Duhami aboard Untouchable 32  (Van Helsing x Lady's King), making it two Saudis in Tuesday’s final.

During the qualifier, three pairs delivered their third clears of the Olympics – first of them Karl Cook (USA) and Caracole de La Roque (Zandor Z x Kannan) who continued their super form from the team competition where they helped the USA to silver. Another two pairs managed to do the same: First Kim Emmen (NED) and Imagine (Cassini Gold x Lord Z), followed by Daniel Coyle (IRL) and the incredibly consistent mare Legacy (Chippendale Z x Bon Ami). Shane Sweetnam will be joining Coyle as the second Irish rider qualified for the individual final; after a rail down on the last fence in the team final, Sweetnam returned strong today with a splendid clear round aboard James Kann Cruz (Kannan x Cruising).

Two teams will have three riders in tomorrow’s final, one of them The Netherlands. Just like Emmen, Harrie Smolders and Uricas v/d Kattevennen (Uriko x Cassini I) delivered a brilliant performance today, and while Maikel van der Vleuten and Beauville Z (Bustique x Jumpy des Fontaines) – bronze medallists from Tokyo – had a rail at 10b down, they made it through on a fast time. 

Fresh from their team gold, all British riders went through to the individual final. First, Harry Charles and Romeo 88 (Contact van de Heffinck x Orlando) pulled off another clear, then Scott Brash and Jefferson (Cooper van de Heffink x Irco Mena) – but not without adding a bit of excitement into the mix as the gelding made the top pole at 10b roll properly in its cups. Dallas Vegas Batilly (Cap Kennedy 2 x L'Arc de Triomphe) made it slightly more dramatic, when she surprisingly sent the bricks on the wall flying to finish on four faults. However, with a fast time, Maher made it just inside the thirty moving on to the final where he will defend his individual title from Tokyo.

“He felt really good, I thought he jumped super,” Brash said of Jefferson. “Maybe I had a touch of luck in the middle part of the combination; it felt like it was the only one he touched, other than that, he felt super. When I walked it, I thought it was a really clever course; it was tricky. But, honestly when I watched the first ten-fifteen go, I thought there was going to be too many clears. So, what do you do; do you set off to have a fast time just in case you have a fence? There is always a balance, you always want to try and be clear, but luckily it paid off.”

A rider that really won over hearts today was Victoria Gulliksen (NOR) who in her Olympic debut piloted Mistral van de Vogelzang (Elvis Ter Putte x Clinton) to a clear round, with her father Geir – himself an Olympian – watching from the Kiss & Cry. Another Olympic debutant that qualified with an outstanding clear today was super-talent Gilles Thomas (BEL), riding the stunning stallion Ermitage Kalone (Catoki x Kannan). 

Rodrigo Pessoa is far from an Olympic debutant, and he used all his experience today to pull off a clear aboard the powerful Major Tom (Vagabond de La Pomme x Heartbreaker). And, as second last in the ring, his compatriot Stephan de Freitas Barcha joined in with a magnificent clear on Primavera (Calvaro F.C. x Paroli) – putting two Brazilians in for tomorrow’s final. 

“My horse was incredible, for the first time in this atmosphere, he was a little bit more anxious than normal,” Pessoa explained. “He always gets a bit fired up, but after we got started, he was foot-perfect, he was listening to everything I asked of him and listening to all the questions, really gave such a good feeling of confidence and jumping easy. It was a nice 75-76 seconds, it was a pleasure and a round I will remember. When the bell goes, he just locks on the first fence. I am very lucky to ride a horse of this quality."

Like Brazil, Switzerland missed out on the team final, but came back strong today with two of their three riders qualifying for Tuesday. First, Olympic champion Steve Guerdat bounced back with Dynamix de Belheme (Snaike de Blondel x Cornet Obolensky) after a disappointing round in the team qualifier and then Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei (Baltic VDL x Corland) delivered one of the most exceptional clears of the day. 

“I had a very good feeling today, it has been a long three days waiting,” Guerdat said. “The worst part is that I did not really know what happened on the first day. Everything went well up to the first jump the first day, so I didn’t know how the reaction would be on the first fence today obviously. Straight away she gave me a much better feeling in the ring than in the team competition and made my life easier. She was back to herself today and we had a really, really good round.” 

However, it was home heroes Julien Epaillard and Dubai du Cedre who stole the show today in Versailles with one of their trademark rounds – even at the Olympics the French master of faster likes to go quick. Crossing the finish line in 73.07 seconds, Epaillard pushed Sweetnam down below him with 0.28 seconds separating the two – the roars from the crowds were so loud that they could be heard to the other side of the Grand Canal and Parc de Versailles, all the way into the Chateau, beyond the statue of Louis XIV and into the Ecuries du Roi. 

“There was a lot of pressure in the team competition, I was the last to go and playing for a medal; silver, bronze or nothing,” Epaillard said. “It is different in the team, you represent your country, you have your friends with you, and you don’t want to disappoint anyone. After this medal, the heavy shoulders I had before went away and I think today I rode differently, maybe more relaxed. Also, my mare has a lot of blood and every day she is more relaxed. It helped me to have more precision in what I do. I am really happy for today, this was the first step, and it was not easy; it is not a big, big, round, it is more delicate, all the distances are a bit open, and that is not the best for me; I like it when it is a bit short with my mare. I am really happy to be taking part in the final tomorrow.”

“The equestrian culture in France is strong, so for us it is important to do something good this week,” Epaillard said about the added pressure of competing on home soil. 

In total, twenty riders qualified on a score of zero today, including Emanuele Camilli (ITA) and Odense Odeveld (Diamant de Semilly x Querlybet Hero), as well as Takashi Haase Shibayama (JPN) and Karamell M & M (Kannan x Contendro).

As last to go, Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi (UAE) and Enjoy de La Mure (Vigo Cece x Sable Rose) wowed the crowds with only a single penalty – putting the United Arab Emirates in for tomorrow’s final, much to the joy of his team-mates who were celebrating on the Kiss & Cry. 

Nine-horse-and-rider combinations qualified on four faults: Maikel van der Vleuten and Beauville Z, Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Bond Jamesbond de Hay (Diamant de Semilly x Kannan), Christian Kukuk (GER) and Checker 47 (Comme Il Faut x Come On), Simon Delestre (FRA) and I Amelusina R 51 (Dexter R x Chin Chin), Max Kühner (AUT) and Elektric Blue P (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x For Pleasure), Laura Kraut (USA) and Baloutinue (Balou du Rouet x Landor S), Ben Maher and Dallas Vegas Batilly, Jose Maria Larocca (ARG) and Finn Lente (Gaillard de la Pomme x Colandro), as well as Philipp Weishaupt (GER) and Zineday (Zinedine x Polydor).

However, it will be all to play for in tomorrow’s individual final and the French now have the advantage of being last to go.