Hope carries Pieter Devos to victory in Bordeaux

Indeed, the pair’s victory at the Jumping International de Bordeaux competition in the southwestern French city has left Devos in 7th place in the Western European standings with just one stop to go on the circuit, in Gothenburg, Sweden from February 21-25.

Heading into Bordeaux with 29 points, Devos knew he had to get to around 40 points to guarantee himself one of the 18 places allocated to Western Europe for the World Cup Final. And with the 20 points he picked up after the victory Saturday evening, Devos now knows he will be heading to the French capital this spring.

“I came here in the hope of qualifying; tonight was one of the last chances and even though I had a good indoor season I needed those extra points,” Devos said. “Of course the win is great and I’m excited to go to the Final, it will be my first and I’m really looking forward to the experience. But to be honest the very best thing is the feeling Espoir gave me today. He had a break and did his first World Cup [qualifier] in Leipzig when we had one down, and tonight he felt like he is right back in great shape and that makes me very, very happy!”

In Bordeaux, 10 horse-and-rider combinations rode clear in the first round to advance to the tie-breaking jump-off on course designer Uliano Vezzani’s track, with Devos and Espoir’s time of 36.53 seconds good for first place and €59,400. Second went to another top rider qualified for Paris, Germany’s Marcus Ehning on Cornado NRW, in 38.09 sec (€36,000), and Spain’s Manuel Fernandez Saro and Cannavaro 9 – also clear, with no obstacles down – third in 38.40 sec (€27,000).

France’s Kevin Staut finished just outside the jump-off, in 11th with Reveur de Hurtebise HDC, but Staut maintains his commanding leading the Western European qualifying standings, with 79 points. The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders, World No.2, who was 12th on Zinius in the qualifier, came back to win Sunday’s Grand Prix in Bordeaux on Emerald N.O.P. Smolders is also looking good for Paris, sitting in 11th place in the standings with just Gothenburg to go.