Brazil’s Marlon Modolo Zanotelli and VDL Edgar M (Arezzo VDL x Marlon) went off with Friday’s biggest win at Hubside Jumping Grimaud in France, the CSI5* 1.55m class.

A total of forty-nine horse-and-rider combinations took part, and no less than twenty of them moved on to the jump-off where Modolo Zanotelli was the fastest after clocking the time of 38.30 seconds. British rider Holly Smith finished as runner-up with Denver (Albfuehren's Memphis x Chico's Boy) after stopping the clocks at 38.61 seconds. Belgium’s Jérôme Guéry with Quel Homme de Hus (Quidam de Revel x Candillo) ended third with a time of 38.70 seconds. The best French performance came from Olivier Robert, who finished fourth with Vivaldi des Meneaux (Chippendale Z x Bamako) ahead of Belgium’s Pieter Devos on Jade vd Bisschop (Ogano Sitte x Grannus) in fifth.

“First of all, I would like to warmly thank the organizers of the Hubside Jumping for this CSI5 *,” Modolo Zanotelli commented after his win. “It is my first time here and I must admit that I am delighted with everything offered to us. It was a real feat to organize everything in such a short time once the permissions to resume competitions had been given. This competition and its organisers play a crucial role in the high-level equestrian sport in Europe. Really, a huge thank you to them. Of course, I also think about my team and the owners of VDL Edgar M – the VDL Stud. He is an exceptional horse and it was such a shame to leave him without competition during this strange period, when he was so fit. Today, I felt we could do anything – I had a really good feeling. I watched Holly Smith’s very fast jump-off, she did seven strides from fence 3 to 4 where I had planned eight strides. So, I tried it too, and it was the right choice.” 

Later in the day, Ireland’s Bertram Allen and Lafayette Van Overis (Kashmir Van Schuttershof x Tauber An Het Kapelhof) took another win in Grimaud when they topped the 1.50m against the clock. USA’s Jessica Springsteen finished in runner-up position with Volage du Val Henry (Quidam de Revel x Cassini I), nearly two seconds behind Allen. Third place went to Yuri Mansur and Casaktie (Cascari x Caresino), that was 0.24 behind Springsteen on the clock.