From press release by Longines Equita Lyon Concours Hippique International
It was a full house for Saturday night’s Equita Masters presented by Hermès Sellier in Lyon. Twenty of the best riders in the world competed in this 1.60m class over two rounds, with ten of them coming back for the second part of the competition against the clock.
Two riders went in with one time penalty for round two, while the remaining eight were on a clean sheet. The first clear double came from Mark McAuley (IRL) and Miebello, setting the time to beat at 43 seconds – also putting pressure on the riders to go faster and faster to win, supported by an audience that was more than enthusiastic.
Finally, it was the British maestro Scott Brash that was the best for a second year in a row. Brash delivered an extremely fast and fluid round with Hello Shelby (Stolzenberg x For Pleasure) in 41.02 seconds, followed by Daniel Deusser (GER) on Jasmien v. Bisschop (Larino x Chin Chin) in runner-up position only 0.07 behind. Third place went to Marc Houtzager (NED) on Sterrehof’s Dante (Canturano x Phin Phin), after the pair stopped the clock at 42.74 seconds.
"There was a great atmosphere,” Brash said about the competition. “It was a very nice class that I am proud to have won again. Shelby jumped amazing, and even better against the clock. I am thrilled with his progress day after day, and he seems to enjoy it more and more. He is at the top level. It makes my life easier,” Brash said.
Earlier in the day, Julien Epaillard (FRA) made it yet another home win in the 1.50m presented by Boehringer-Ingelheim. Riding Virtuose Champeix (Toulon x Cartier van de Heffinck), the French rider stopped the clock at 57.35 seconds. Epaillard was followed by his compatriot Olivier Perreau (FRA) on GL Events Dolce Deceuninck (Toulon x Cartier van de Heffinck) in 57.49 seconds, and William Whitaker (GBR) on RMF Echo (Virus de Laubry x Feo) in 58.18 seconds.