Cabourg, France– May 30, 2026 – There was a little air of vacation and summer on Saturday midday and early afternoon on the main track of the Cabourg Classic CSI 4*, for the Saturday €28,200 Small Grand Prix CSI 4* presented by Range Rover, contested at 1.45 m. In the arena, the competitors, concentrated, followed one another to the songs of the seagulls of the seaside resort.

Combinations Determined to Fight
First round: seventy-eight couples at the start and, as always, a first objective — to qualify for the jump-off. The rest would come later. First to enter the clear round, the Tricolor Mathieu Billot (FRA), in the saddle on Heartsong de Pleville, was quickly followed by the Belgian Daan Bernaerts (BEL) on L’Esmeralda van’t Meulenhof. Very fit, his compatriot Rik Hemeryck (BEL) also qualified for the jump-off with Navarro van het Eelshof, before the Tricolors William Ligier de la Prade (FRA) on Celouvo and Zoé Muller on Fleur du Gué in turn won their ticket. In the first third of the event, only five combinations had found the keys to the course designed by Grégory Bodo (FRA).

This was without counting on the know-how of the British Millie Allen (GBR), perfect on Criquet de l’Isle. Same blank copy returned by the Tricolores Nicolas Layec (FRA) on Georgio Louvo Z, Alix Ragot (FRA) with If de Mars, Julien Épaillard (FRA) on Hacker d’Auge, Kevin Staut (FRA) with Exquis RB, Margaux Rocuet (FRA) on Best Of Iscla, by the Briton Matthew Sampson (GBR) on Latte Macchiato, by the Chinese representative Yanhe You on Farah Tame or even by the Irishman Trevor Breen (IRL) on Konrad Obolensky, to name but a few than them. In total, nineteen couples won their ticket.

Too bad for the Canadian Kara Chad (CAN) with Ciao Bello NVE Z, the Tricolores Faustine Laferrerie (FRA) on the reins of Hines de Perhet, Théo Ogorzaly (FRA) on Goya Batilli, Arthur Deuquet (FRA) with Indigo de Nantuel, the Canadian Kyle Timm (CAN) in the saddle on Get Lucky de Circée, the Briton Guy Williams (GBr) and Kermit van Overis Z, or the Chilean Jorge Matte Capdevila (CHI) on Mescorial PS, who all signed very nice clear rounds on the bars but unfortunately accompanied by a penalty-point due to the time exceeded. It was necessary to cross the finish line in 74”00 maximum, the last three having exceeded the allotted time by a few hundredths.

Always Faster
From the start of the jump-off, Mathieu Billot (FRA) and Heartsong de Pleville set the tone with a fast tempo in 37”48. Fast but not unbeatable, his pursuers not failing to lower the reference time, like the Belgian Rik Hemeryck (BEL) and Navarro van het Eelshof, long leaders of the game with a faster time of almost two seconds (35”38). That was without counting on the speedy Briton Matthew Sampson (GBR) and his fabulous accomplice Latte Macchiato, recent winners of a 1.50m event in Windsor. Fluidly and without incident, the couple lowered the clock to 33”05, simply unbeatable.

Third in this Range Rover Grand Prix, the Irishman Trevor Breen (GBR), at the reins of Konrad Obolensky, overtook the best Frenchman in the event, the Norman Kevin Staut (FRA), fourth with Exquis RB (36”37), by setting a time of 36”16. Nicolas Layec (FRA) and William Ligier de la Prade, respectively riding Georgio Louvo Z and Celouvo, ranked sixth and seventh.

“He may not look like the fastest horse in the world, but he is.” – Matthew Sampson (GBR)
“I’m really happy. He won a very good event in Windsor two weeks ago and in every competition he almost always gets a good result. So I’m very lucky to have him, he’s great. He may not seem like the fastest horse in the world, but he is, it’s fantastic,” said the Briton at the end of the event, saluting his pleasure at being in Cabourg: “It’s the first time I’ve come here. This competition is really cool and I’m going to enjoy it even more now!”

Final Results – €28,200 Range Rover Small Grand Prix CSI 4*

1) Matthew Sampson (GBR) & Latte Macchiato – 0 / 0 – 35.05

2) Rik Hemeryck (BEL) & Navarro van het Eelshof – 0 / 0 – 35.38

3) Trevor Breen (IRL) & Konrad Obolensky – 0 / 0 – 36.16

Source: Press Release from (translated & edited) Grand Prix Events

Photo: © Grand Prix Events

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