Tétouan, Morocco – October 08, 2022 – It could have been the perfect day for the Italian Emanuele Gaudiano (ITA). Regular winner of the Morocco Royal Tour, especially in Tétouan, after a first success the day before, he signed his second triumph this afternoon in the Prix Tanger Med with Chaccart PS. And it could have gone on like that in the evening when, with his beautiful Crack Balou, he held the lead in the €51,300 Prix de Dakhla CSI 4*-W. But a grain of sand came to spoil his party, a certain Simon Delestre (FRA).
This €51,300 Prix de Dakhla CSI 4*-W, a winning-round where the ten best among the 37 combinations at the start were invited to return to the arena to compete for victory against the clock, was run in an extraordinary atmosphere, in front of full stands an hour before the start of the event. A public excited and noisy of the big events and all the more enthusiastic that a Moroccan, Hicham El-Radi (MOR) was invited to this final party. But the victory was going to be decided between two Europeans. And so it was Gaudiano, on the momentum of his victory in the afternoon, who took the lead. And when the Italian takes the lead in this kind of event, it is not easy to dislodge him. But with his super Tinka’s Hero Z (Tinka’s Boy x Caretino), the Frenchman Simon Delestre (FRA) had the resources and the pair improved Gaudiano’s time by 63 hundredths:
“At the moment, Tinka’s is having a fantastic season… in Saint-Tropez, he is clear and finished 7th in the Grand Prix, one week earlier, he won a 1.55m class in Brussels and he won today. It’s a real pleasure. It’s a competition where we are always happy to be here: usually I’m always alone, even when I win, and today everyone is here, the owners, the friends… it’s cool to be in Tetouan”!
Emanuele Gaudiano (ITA) hid his joy a bit more, but he was still enjoying his day: “Yes, it was good in the end, I really love this event and I intend to take my revenge tomorrow in the Grand Prix where I will ride the same horse, Crack Balou. Simon turned shorter between the second and third fence and gained a stride, I think that’s where I lost, but I’m happy with this second place. I missed this competition and I’m happy to be back here this year. The atmosphere is special here, the people are great and the weather is nice. I’ve been coming here for a long time and I hope to come back again”.
On Sunday: Grand Prix day, the 1* first: (10 am): today the Moroccan riders have shone at this level with the victories of Jad Gerraoui at 1.35m (ahead of Emanuele Gaudiano!) and Amine Sajid at 1.25m; then, at 4:00 pm, Grand Prix World Cup 4*, Prix de SAR le Prince Héritier Moulay El Hassan, for perhaps the return match between Delestre and Gaudiano … But there are 40 very beautiful candidates in this event, including 9 Moroccan chances.
Final Results – €51,300 Prix de Dakhla CSI 4*-W
1) Simon Delestre (FRA) & Tinka’s Hero Z – 0 / 0 – 35.67
2) Emanuele Gaudiano (ITA) & Crack Balou – 0 / 0 – 36.50
3) Bernardo Cardoso de Resende Alves (BRA) & Mosito van het Hellehof – 0 / 0 – 36.94
Source: Press Release by Pascal Renauldon / Agence R&B Presse for the Morocco Royal Tour
Photos: © Morocco Royal Tour / Agence R&B Presse / Pascal Renauldon
Categories: CSI 4*, English, Jumper News France
