CAIO Le Pin au Haras: Cones Shake Up the Standings

In the CAI2 Children Single Pony* class, French driver Antoine Michel was one of only two competitors to achieve the coveted “double clear.” After finishing second in dressage and fifth in the marathon, he secured the overall victory in the youth competition.

Sebastien Pallen Wins the CAI3 Single Pony*

Belgian driver Sebastien Pallen entered the cones with a comfortable lead of almost seven penalty points after winning both the dressage and marathon. However, it quickly became apparent that anything could happen on this demanding cones course.

No competitor managed to finish with fewer than 10 penalty points. France’s Marie Verna produced the best performance of the day with 11.26 penalties, moving up to claim the bronze medal.

Great Britain’s Catherine Brockie significantly reduced the gap to Pallen, but the Belgian had built up enough of an advantage to retain the overall victory. After finishing second in all three phases, Brockie also secured the silver medal overall.

Fabrice Martin Overtakes the Swiss Drivers

In the CAI4 Single Horse* class, French driver Clément Deschamps, who had been ninth overall after the marathon, delivered a superb cones round. His compatriot Fabrice Martin also completed the course without knocking a ball, although he incurred a tiny amount of time penalties.

As mentioned yesterday, the margins between the leading drivers after the marathon were extremely small. While the top three were separated by little more than one knocked ball, the next four competitors were also well within striking distance, making the cones competition wide open.

Swiss drivers Stefan Ulrich and Mario Gandolfo both picked up just enough penalties to lose their advantage. Ulrich drove a clear round but collected more than four time penalties, while Gandolfo stayed inside the time allowed but knocked down two balls. Martin’s composed performance proved enough to move ahead of both Swiss drivers, giving the Frenchman overall victory in the international competition.

Nations Cup Standings Remain Unchanged

Although the French team produced a stronger cones performance than Switzerland, they were unable to overcome the Swiss advantage built up over the first two phases.

The top three in the Nations Cup therefore remained unchanged:

Belgium was no longer in contention after recording an elimination in the marathon and another elimination in the cones.

François Dutilloy Wins After Demanding Cones Test

The CAI3 Horse Pairs* competitors also found the cones course extremely challenging. Irish driver Folke Rohrssen, who had driven a careful marathon yesterday, produced the best cones performance of the day with 9.15 penalty points. Even so, he could not avoid knocking down two balls and also incurred time penalties.

French driver François Dutilloy was the best of the remaining competitors with 12.59 penalties, and that proved enough to regain the overall lead from his compatriot Louis Horde. Dutilloy claimed the overall victory, Horde finished second, and Belgium’s Laurens D’Hollander completed the podium in third place.

For Dutch driver Sam Couwenberg, the technical cones course at this level proved a difficult challenge. She finished tenth in the cones and dropped to eighth place overall.

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Photo: Melanie Guillamot