Egypt's Abdel Said and Hope van Scherpen Donder (Quadrillo x Balou du Rouet) won Saturday's CSI4*-W FEI World Cup Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. 

Thirteen out of the 31 riders in the class managed to produce a clear over the initial first-round track set at 1.60m, moving on to the second round against the clock. There, nine of the horse-and-rider combinations repeated their clears but it was Said that was the fastest of all aboard his feisty 11-year-old mare stopping the clock at 39.91 seconds. Coming in second was Belgium's Pieter Clemens on Calvino de Nyze Z (Calvaro Z x Heartbreaker), with a time of 40.45 seconds while third place went to Great Britain's Nigel Coupe on Golvers Hill ((Ricardo Z x Clover Hill) in 40.69. Ukraine's Rene Tebbel finished fourth, and Ireland's Shane Breen fifth. 

"I'm delighted with Hope," Said commented after his win. "It's a great way to start 2018. It was a good Grand Prix, it was fair build and the jump-off was fast. I had the advantage to be going last, so I could see a bit what needed to be done. We gave it a go, and Hope does not let me down too often. Today, she was again fast enough for the win! Now she gets a little break next week, and then she will jump the five-star World Cup in Dubai."