The Morocco Royal Tour Prix de la Marche Verte, a qualifier for Sunday’s World Cup Grand Prix, saw world number 10, Simone Delestre of France, take the win riding Olga van de Kruishoeve.
Thirty-nine riders were on the starting grid, but only two of them – including the team bronze medalist at the last European Championships, Austrian Katharina Rhomberg, who unfortunately had a small problem of understanding with Colestus Cambridge – were unable to take part in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Thirty-seven riders will be taking part, including, of course, the day’s winner, France’s Simon Delestre with a mare, Olga van de Kruishoeve, owned by a Moroccan owner and whom he is happily “discovering” as he progresses towards the top level: “I’ve only been riding her for a short time, this is only the third show we’ve done together, and I’ve got a very good feeling about this mare and it was interesting to see today how she would perform playing for the victory and she jumped remarkably well, I’m discovering her a little more each time. She has great potential and we’re counting on her for the future. Her behavior today was exemplary and bodes well for the future of our shared adventure”. Simon Delestre will be riding Olga on Sunday in the Grand Prix, as well as in El Jadida.
 
It’s not the first time that the French rider has taken advantage of the Morocco Royal Tour’s perfect technical conditions to launch his young Grand Prix horses into the big time. “But there are many other reasons that bring me back to Morocco every year,” said Delestre. “We have a lot of ties there, as my father was national trainer for four years, contributing to the team’s qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games. It was a period that enabled us to discover Morocco and the Moroccan people, with whom we have a lot in common. Apart from this aspect, I always make it a rule to choose the best competitions for my horses, and in this respect the MRT is a fantastic circuit, bringing together all the best it has to offer from a technical point of view. Of course, there’s the emotional side, but for me, the most important thing is the quality of the competition”.
 
It was another regular winner at Tetouan, Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano, who double-scored with Jaja in the other 4* event, the Prix Sakia El Hamra, 1.40m in two phases, after a first victory yesterday with the beautiful grey mare.
 
Tomorrow, the highlight of the 4* day will be the Prix de Dakhla, a 1.50 m Grand Prix-type class with jump-off… which Simon Delestre won last year with Tinka’s Hero Z.
 
RESULTS CSI 4* – TOP 5
PRIX DE LA MARCHE VERTE
CSI 4* – 1.50 m, Fault & Time
40 Participants and 12 Classified
 
1) Simon Delestre, FRA – Olga van de Kruishoeve 0/64.41, 2) Giulia Martinengo Marquet, ITA – Scuderia 1918 Quick And Easy 3 0/65.21, 3) Jeanne Sadran, FRA – Kosmo Van Hof Ter Boone 0/65.96, 4) Antoine Ermann, FRA – Odin Van ‘T Hanegoor 0/66.73, 5) Jérôme Guery, BEL – Enjoy d’Eole 0/67.00
 
PRIX SAKIA EL HAMRA
CSI4*-W – 1.40 m – Two phases
50 Participants and 13 Classified
 
1) Emanuele Gaudiano, ITA – Jaja 0-0/28.26, 2) Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon, MAR – Ingmar 0-0/28.91, 3) Duarte Seabra, POR – Hhs Washington 0-0/29.07, 4) Jérôme Guery, BEL – Quality Star Z 0-0/29.77, 5) Giulia Martinengo Marquet, ITA – Scuderia 1918 Calle Deluxe 0-0/29.79
For full results click here
 
MEDIA CONTACTS
Pascal Renauldon
p.renauldon@rbpresse.com
WhatsApp au Maroc +33 6 08 75 94 07
 
Adèle Renauldon
adele@rbpresse.com
WhatsApp au Maroc +33 6 50 05 69 34