Grand Prix in Bordeaux

After a forced break of a few weeks due to a hand injury following a riding accident, Simone Pearce is ready to get going again. Her new star in the stable is a ten-year-old gelding called Will Marq. The bay is a Spanish sport horse, so not a PRE, but a CDE. However, his pedigree is not at all Spanish. His sire Rio Marq is a Hanoverian stallion by Rosario-Dream of Glory, his dam a Bavarian mare by Lanciano-Raueck. However, Will has Spanish breeders and now has a Swiss owner. He belongs to Pearce’s partner Martin Fuchs.

Will spent his first years of training under Spanish riders and took part in the 2022 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses with Antonio Segui Sintes. However, the pair ended up in the lower ranks. Fuchs then acquired him in January 2025 and in the same year Pearce successfully presented him at S*** level at several regional shows. The pair made their international debut last year in Neustadt/Dosse, where they gave up in the Grand Prix. Their second attempt was the CDI3* in Troisdorf. They finished third with 69.413 percent – behind the later Mechelen winners Justin Verboomen and Djembe de Hus, who will be competing in Neumünster next week. In Stuttgart they were sixth with 69.140 percent. Today they broke the 70 percent barrier for the first time and were delighted with their first CDI victory.

Winner and runner-up of the first Grand Prix in Bordeaux

With 71.130 percent, Simone Pearce and Will Marq prevailed against Pauline Basquin, competing for Cadre Noir, on her now 16-year-old Sandro Hit son Sertorius de Rima Z. With a final score of 71.065 percent, the decision was a close one. Three judges had the French rider in first place: Hans-Christian Matthiesen (70.109), Henning Lehrmann (72.174) and Raphael Saleh (72.391). The decisive factor was that Matthiesen had only given the winner 68.913 percent.

Pearce presented her gelding with an appealing lateral pattern, but not working much through the body in trot. The pair scored particularly well in canter.

Pauline Basquin and Sertorius de Rima were THE discovery of the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck, a very harmonious pair and the Sandro Hit son blessed with an extremely expressive passage. He also showed this today. In general, he made a fresh impression. However, Basquin was not as elegant and supple in the saddle today as we have already seen from her. The contact was also quite firm and mistakes in both changes cost the Olympic pair dearly.

At least her result was enough to keep the three-time Olympic rider João Victor Marcari Oliva at bay in the saddle of the Westphalian Franzikus son Feel Good VO. The Brazilian and the 14-year-old gelding know each other well. They won silver at the 2023 Pan-American Games. Last season, João, who rides in Portugal and for Montavoni Horses, left Feel Good to Portuguese rider Marta Fernandes for the U25 European Championships in Kronberg. He took over the reins again in the fall. Today they scored 70.522 percent.

German couples are not competing in Bordeaux.

You can find all the results here.