Valence, France – August 28, 2021 – Thirteen combinations had an appointment Saturday night to meet the stars in the impressive €20,000 Mercedes-Benz Six-Bar Challenge CSI 2* that wrapped up the sports day at the Hubside Jumping de Valence CSI 4* & 2*.
After a first passage at 1.55m where twelve competitors passed without a hitch, four jump-offs were necessary to decide between the best. A first jump-off at 1.70m eliminated three combinations. For his part, the German Marco Kutscher (GER) and Zypern 4, victorious at this height, preferred to stop there. At 1.80m, two more pairs bowed out, and Portugal’s Rodrigo Giesteira Almeida (POR), saddled on Icloud, decided to stop despite a clear performance. Raising the bar to 1.92m, the penultimate jump-off eliminated three big names.
For the final pass, at the stupendous height of 2.02m, only two remained: Frenchman Thomas Leveque (FRA) and Briton Lily Attwood (GBR), respectively associated with Casting de Rueire and I’m Emerone…. First to set off, the Frenchman had a refusal aboard the gelding at the last obstacle in the line, but he refused to try again. By overturning the final bar, the young rider still won.
Winner’s Circle – Lily Attwood (GBR)
“It’s incredible. I am so happy. I’m Emerone is only eight years old. She was so perfect in this environment with the artificial light. This is my first time doing a Six-Bar event. This is the first time that I have jumped this high. It’s still a little scary, but I trusted her. She is so brave. So I just tried to give her a lot of confidence and that was fantastic!”
Final Results – €20,000 Mercedes-Benz Six-Bar CSI 2*
1) Lily Attwood (GBR) & I’m Emerone – 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 – 4
2) Thomas Leveque (FRA) & Casting de Rueire – 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 – RET
3) Jayson Caman (FRA) & Chocolate 87 – 0 / 0 / 0 / 4
Source: Press Release by Daniel Koroloff / Blizko Communication for Hubside Jumping de Valence
Photos: © Hubside Jumping / Sportfot
Categories: CSI 2*, English, Jumper News Great Britain
