
A week after their clean sweep in Rabat, Saudi Arabia returned to their winning ways in El Jadida, with Khaled Almobty and Davenport taking exactly the same event as last week, a winning-round.
The rather tricky first round saw a quartet of the fastest four-faulters join the list of 12 finalists for the second round, including four female riders. The advantage in this class is that those who made errors in the first round have a chance at redemption, for the scorecard is wiped clean ahead of the second decisive round. So, it was a new course of seven obstacles, including a double, which naturally takes on the competitive character of a jump-off—a galloping jump-off, as we like them, with a long final run between the last two oxers. With an already enthusiastic public, it was all the more incentive to lay down the gauntlet. Like that, sport becomes a show!
Namely two of these “4 faulters” weren’t going to squander their second chance and got off to a flying start, with Morocco’s El Ghali Boukaa (Chester N) and Ireland’s Jessica Burke (African Affair) carrying the lead…until Khaled Almobty and Davenport took to the track and set a reference time of 38.53 seconds, which France’s Ines Joly and Ambassador beat by a hundredth, but unfortunately at the cost of a rail on a vertical after an ambitiously tight turn.
Abdelkebir Ouaddar, under pressure from an enthusiastic home crowd, ensured his share of the show with a magnificent run on Baccarat Menilsjean, unfortunately penalized by a rail over the double. This event was predestined to become the specialty of Khaled Almobty and his beloved Davenport.
“I’m so happy. I’ve got a wonderful horse who’s just come back from a period of rest, and he’s won this same event for the second time in a week, this time with a double clear round,” said Almobty.
Indeed, last week, the Saudi had come a long way, for he had reached the second round after a 12-point effort over the first course. But there’s one thing Davenport is consistent about, and that’s his speed on a “barrage.”
“He’s the perfect size, and I know exactly how to manage his speed on the ground, it’s a joy to have a horse like him… Thank you, Davenport…and one thing’s for sure, I’ll be here again next year, you can count on me,” said Khaled, who is on his third visit to the Morocco Royal Tour.
Prix FBP – CSI 4*-W – 1.45m, Table A, Time Trial
The “4*” day began with a fine speed class, which saw 25 elite combinations. A fairly technical course consisting of 12 obstacles and 14 jumping efforts, with the first double, an oxer-vertical at one stride, already a challenging question, whose difficulty was enhanced by an oxer four strides afterward. However, in typical Uliano Vezzani fashion, the faults were spread almost equally over all the elements, with only seven clear rounds. A “subject” that didn’t deeply concern Belgian Thierry Goffinet, winner of the event in 58.21 seconds with Quick Diamant HR, who had also won yesterday’s 1.40m. It’s a mare that the Belgian has only known for 20 days or so, lent to him by Frenchman Vincent Barteau, who was unable to take part in this edition of the MRT.
“Two victories is something to celebrate, and we finished in second place on Thursday, so we can say that we’re beginning to understand each other. And yes, I can attest that Uliano’s courses are very tricky. The track isn’t very big, and he offers us choices of distance that aren’t always easy, with lines that are ‘in-between,’ but my mare has a great canter, so I don’t ask myself too many questions,” said Goffinet.
On the other hand, as we’ve seen since the start of the competition, his Grand Prix horse, Derby Landais, is asking some questions. As a horseman, he’s making wise decisions: “He gave a lot in the Nations Cup in Rabat last week, and it would have been wiser if I’d left him alone, so I prefer to forego the Grand Prix.”
It was perhaps an unexpected result when the Belgian beat the Greek Ioli Mytilinaiou who, with Por Favor Van ‘T Roosakker, held the lead for the better part of the class, even “resisting” the Italian Emanuele Gaudiano, faster with Jaja, but for whom the final oxer was unforgiving. Moroccan Ali Al Ahrach rounded off the podium with Usa de Riverland.
RESULTS
PRIX FBP
24 starters and 12 classified
1) Thierry Goffinet, BEL – Quick Diamant HR 0/58.21, 2) Ioli Mytilinaiou, GRE – Por Favor Van ‘T Roosakker 0/60.23, 3) Ali Al Ahrach, MAR – Usa de Riverland 0/62.22, 4) Thomas de Wit, BEL – Ice Twin Girl Dw Z 0/63.14, 5) Rikke Belinda Barker, DEN – Pico Hcc 0/64.39
PRIX CDG
23 starters and 12 classified
1) Khaled Almobty, KSA – Davenport VDL 0-0/38.53, 2) Jessica Burke, IRL – African Affair 4-0/39.87, 3) Nico Lupino, ITA – Fabalia 0-0/40.77, 4) El Ghali Boukaa, MAR – Chester N 4-0/42.06, 5) Adrian Schmid, SUI – Chicharito 11 0-0/43.69
About the Morocco Royal Tour
Three exceptional sites, three four-day stages, all 4*, for the thirteenth edition of the Morocco Royal Tour, taking place between September 19, 2024, and October 6, 2024. Created in 2010 on the “High Instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI” and directed by Prince Moulay Abdallah Alaoui, President of the Fédération Royale Marocaine des Sports Équestres (Royal Moroccan Federation of Equestrian Sports), the MRT grows from year to year, confirming its place as a major competition on the world equestrian calendar, under the aegis of the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI).
▪ The circuit kicks off in Tetouan, from September 19 to 22, at the superb facilities of the Garde Royale. A magnificent venue with “permanent” facilities: majestic grandstands and superb stables decorated in traditional Moroccan style.
The Rabat show, from September 25 to 29, is held at the technically impeccable facilities of the Royal Moroccan Federation of Equestrian Sports, whose flagship event is the Moroccan Nations’ Cup, scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but also featuring a prestigious 4* World Cup Grand Prix on Friday.
The final leg in El Jadida, from October 3 to 6, is an indoor event with a sports program like that of Tetouan. It also provides an opportunity to discover the Moroccan Horse Exhibition (Salon du Cheval d’El Jadida), undoubtedly the most important on the continent, and where the flagship class of the circuit, the Grand Prix de Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI de Saut d’obstacles, is held.
Media Contact
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
By Press Release