Dinard Grand Prix

Only four pairs advanced to the jump-off for the CSI5* Grand Prix in Dinard. However, some weren’t even aiming for it in the first place. Falsterbo winners Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz cruised through the regular course in a relaxed manner, clearing all obstacles but incurring a time penalty. They are qualified for Aachen, as are France’s Olivier Perreau and his home-bred Dorai D’Aiguilly, who, like James Kann Cruz, is a descendant of Kannan. Perreau even took the time to pick up two time penalty points. Luciana Diniz and Vertigo du Desert, who will represent Brazil in their “home arena” at the Soers, did reach the jump-off but did not compete in it.

This cleared the way for a Belgian-Austrian-German trio consisting of Pieter Devos on the 11-year-old Primo DV, Max Kühner in the saddle of his experienced Irish horse EIC Cooley Jump the Q, and Christian Ahlmann on the 10-year-old Codex One son Sheeran WL. Max Kühner was the only one who really took a risk and, with a time of 44.92 seconds, was by far the fastest. He paid for it with a knockdown.

Pieter Devos, who will be riding in the Casual DV Z class at the World Championships, rode his gray horse briskly and flawlessly to the finish in 47.42 seconds. Ahlmann took his time with his still-young stallion, finishing in 49.08 seconds, but also without any knockdowns. This secured Devos the victory and made him 125,000 euros richer. Christian Ahlmann took home a whopping 100,000 euros for his second-place finish, and 75,000 went to third-place finisher Max Kühner.

Thanks to the second-fastest four-fault round in the regular course, Richard Vogel and his World Championship reserve horse, Cloudio, also finished in the money, in ninth place. Christian Kukuk and the 10-year-old Irish horse HK Carrera accumulated six penalty points (one knockdown, two time faults).

You can find all the results here.