Grimaud, France – October 09, 2022 – We hadn’t seen them on such heights for a few months: the Swiss Bryan Balsiger and his mare Ak’s Courage were well and truly back, winning the feature class on Saturday, €51,300 Hubside Store Jump-off Challenge CSI 5* during the Hubside Jumping‘s fourth week of the Fall Tour Series at Grimaud-Golfe of Saint Tropez.
At the end of an eleven-man shoot-off, the Swiss and the 2009 grey German Sport Horse (DSP) (Chepetto C x Lennon 5) were supreme doing so in flawless fashion in 38.10 seconds.
Denis Lynch and GC Chopin’s Bushi (Contendro II x Nairobi) matched the clean scorecard of the eventual winners but were over a second slower, still managing to secure a second-place finish due to their jump-off time of 39.38 seconds.
Piergiorgio Bucci (ITA) powered towards a third-place finish with Naiade d’Elsendam Z (Nabab de Reve x Quattro B), earning a top-three finish with no penalties in 39.92 seconds during the tiebreaker.
Winner’s Circle – Bryan Balsiger (SUI)
“You really had to go very, very fast in this jump-off and Ak’s Courage responded very well. I think she’s been jumping remarkably since the beginning of the week. She hadn’t taken part in events at this level since some time since we kept it, and I’m delighted to find it at this level and to be able to have this good feeling again on this kind of event. Courage did a lot for me last winter and we had to take a break at the beginning of the year because precisely, she had given a lot. Today, she ran her fifteenth course but until now, she had run only on 1.40. Yesterday, she was already fifth in the 150 and won today on this rating. The feeling is great and she responds very well. I hope to be able to run a few Longines FEI World Cups with Courage. Tomorrow, I will ride Chelsea Z in the Grand Prix: it will be her first 5* Grand Prix. She has achieved very good results this year, the feeling is good with her also since the beginning of the week, so we will do our best.”
Final Results – €51,300 Hubside Store Jump-off Challenge CSI 5*
1) Bryan Balsiger (SUI) & Ak’s Courage – 0 / 0 – 38.10
2) Denis Lynch (IRL) & G&C Chopin’s Bushi – 0 / 0 – 39.38
3) Piergiorgio Bucci (ITA) & Naiade d’Elsedam Z – 0 / 0 – 39.92
Source: Press Release (edited) by Daniel Koroloff / Blizko Communication for Hubside Jumping
Photos: © Hubside / Jumping Sportfot
Categories: CSI 5*, English, Jumper News Schweiz
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