Gregory Wathelet eyes Grand Slam bonus after winning Longines Masters of Paris Grand Prix

In what turned to be one of the most entertaining competitions of the 2016 season, Wathelet, riding Eldorado van het Vijverhof, took the honours and top prize of 115.500 Euro ahead of Ireland’s Bertram Allen and Germany’s Daniel Deusser in second and third place respectively.

The win also earned the Belgian a shot at winning the Grand Slam Bonus of one million Euros at the Longines Hong Kong Masters next March.

A total of 39 horse and rider combinations came forward to tackle course designer Uliano Vezzani’s thirteen-fence Grand Prix track and Austria’s Max Kühner on Cornet Kaluah opened the competition in fine fashion with a clear round as first to go.

However many others did not fare so well with faults spread around the course and fence 11 in particular causing many problems with several riders getting refusals from their mounts.

A total of eight combinations did jump clear however and make it through to the jump-off decider.

Kühner again got matters underway but saw one fence down to eventually finish fifth, before the second of the three Belgians in the jump-off, Nils Bruynseels, on Cas de Liberte also saw a rail down and with a slower time than Kühner had to settle for sixth.

The first clear round in the jump-off came from Great Britain’s John Whitaker on Ornellaia and they temporarily took the lead with a time of 47.35 seconds.

The third of the Belgian trio, Nicola Philippaerts followed on H&M Harley v. Bisschop and saw two rails down before Wathelet and Eldorado van het Vijverhof saved plenty of time and got a great run to the last upright stopping the clock on 41.86 seconds.

Allen on Hector van d’Abdijhoeve was next to go but having looked set to challenge Wathelet they lost ground on the last part of the course, crossing the finish line an agonizing 0.22 seconds behind the Belgian.

After his win at the Longines Los Angeles Masters in October, Deusser knew he could now secure the Super Grand Slam Bonus, but this time around the German rider on Equita van’t Zorgvliet was just not fast enough and with a clear round time of 43.81 seconds had to settle for third place.

It meant France’s Simon Delestre as last to go had the chance to win it for the home crowds and it all started so well for the current world number three rider until Chesall Zimequest slammed on the breaks in the tight turn to the third last fence shattering the hopes of a French win.

It meant Wathelet had secured victory and now goes forward to the next stage of the Grand Slam Indoor of Show Jumping, the Longines Masters of Hong Kong, held across 10 to 12 February 2017 with that Grand Slam Bonus very much in his sights.

The four days of competitions at the Longines Masters of Paris once again lived up to expectations with some stunning equestrian.

Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat grabbed the victory in the Gold Cup on Saturday night as riding Albführen’s Happiness the pair were one of 25 in a field of 41 that produced a clear round over the first round track.

However in the jump-off, the 2012 Olympic Champion proved the fastest over the shortened course by over two seconds from runner-up Daniel Deusser aboard Sweet de Beaufour, and Belgium’s Jerome Guery riding Alicante in third place.

Home hero Kevin Staut and Elky van het Indihof HDC gave the full house in Paris full value for their ticket money in Friday’s Longines Speed Challenge, with a stunning quick round that no one else in the competition was close to matching.

Unique to the Longines Masters Series, the Longines Speed Challenge encourages the riders to go as fast as possible as each fault is only penalised by two seconds as opposed to the standard four with the riders usually giving full speed from start to finish.

Over Uliano Vezzani’s Speed Challenge course, the riders were asked to jump thirteen fences and Staut, who had been close to victory in the Longines Speed Challenge before at the 2016 edition of the competition in Los Angeles where they were runners-up, went all the way this time, stopping the clock on 61.81 seconds.

Staut’s compatriot Julien Epaillard on Cristallo A LM came close with their fast time of 62.80, but a fence down added a further two seconds penalty meaning they finished runners-up.

USA’s McLain Ward claimed third place aboard Malou but was some way behind the French pairings with the American rider stopping the clock on 65.53 seconds.

Longines Masters Paris 2016
Result – Longines Grand Prix

1 Eldorado van het Vijverhof Gregory Wathelet Belgium 0/faults 41.86 seconds
2 Hector van d’Abdijhoeve Bertram Allen Ireland 0/ 42.08
3 Equita van’t Zorgvliet Daniel Deusser Germany 0/ 43.81
4 Ornellaia John Whitaker Great Britain 0/ 47.35
5 Cornet Kalua Max Kühner Austria 4/ 45.14
6 Cas de Liberte Niels Bruynseels Belgium 4/ 45.94
7 Chesall Zimequest Simon Delestre France 4/ 52.16
8 H&M Harley v. Bisschop Nicola Philippaerts Belgium 8/ 45.81