Saut Hermès: Marseillaise” fills the Grand Palais

French riders put in great performances on the second day of the Saut Hermès. Riding Océane de Nantuel, the young Frenchman Titouan Schumacher (22 years old) won the Grand Prix of the Talents Hermès (reserved for riders under 25) this morning. A few hours later, a second French rider, Kevin Staut, also took the top spot on the podium. The world number 11 won the Prix GL Events against the clock on Ayade de Septon*HDC. In the final class of the day at 4.30pm, Kevin Staut then finished second in Le Saut Hermès with his team-mate Lucy Davis (USA). The class was won by Romain Duguet (SUI) and Anna-Julia Kontio (FIN).

Talents HermèsCSIU25 / Class 4 : A French victory in Les Talents Hermès

The Talents Hermès class at 1.45m opened proceedings on the second day of competition at the Grand Palais. Thanks to the subtleties of the course designed by Frank Rothenberger, just 8 riders made it through to the jump-off; this figure is often considered the ideal number. Moreover, seven different nationalities were involved. This included the French rider Titouan Schumacher (22 years old) on his 14-year-old mare Océane de Nantuel.

Titouan was the first rider to complete a clear round in the jump-off, with a time of 33’’9; an excellent time, thanks to an energetic performance with tight turns. Another 6 riders followed him into the arena but no-one managed to beat him. There was a particularly tense atmosphere in the paddock at the entrance to the arena when Eoin Mcmahon, the last rider of the jump-off, was getting ready go out. To win the class, he needed to do a great time, which drove him to make a fault and then be eliminated following a fall.

Titouan Schumacher was therefore the only rider to ride a double clear round; what’s more, he posted the best time of all the 8 riders in the jump-off! The perfect outcome for his first participation in the Saut Hermès.

Titouan, who is based in Normandy, has been working for several years with the former rider and coach of the French team, Gilles Bertran de Balanda. “Last year, I took part in the European Championship for Young Riders with Paradis Latin, who injured himself. So, I decided to compete with Océane here and this win proves it was a wise choice. The Saut Hermès is a unique event, which is just perfect from a rider’s point of view. So winning here tastes really sweet!”

Titouan Schumacher finished ahead of the German rider Michael Viehweg on Avalon 308 (4 points and 35’’15), and the English rider Millie Allen, who was third on Balou Star (4 points and 37’’44). Tomorrow, the twenty couples will take to the arena again at 11:50 for the third and final class of Les Talents Hermès; this class will involve teams of two riders of the same nationality.
CSI 5* Prix GL Events / Class 5 : Kevin Staut gives France its second win of the day!
The 5th class of the Saut Hermès was a table A class against the clock with jump-off. In order to have a hope of winning, the riders needed to complete a clear round over 1.50-metre jumps in the best possible time.

The French rider Kevin Staut quickly took the lead in the class. He went out fourth on his ten-year-old mare Ayade de Septon*HDC, a little horse measuring just 1.59m. When they rode a clear round in a very quick time of 55’’74, a win already looked on the cards.

Another twenty riders followed Kevin Staut before the American rider Jack Towell on New York completed a clear round, but three seconds slower than the Frenchman. They took second place ahead of the Swiss rider Pius Schwizer, who was third on Léonard de la Ferme in 58’’23.

Afterwards, Kevin Staut spoke to us about his win the win in the Prix GL events: “When I came off the course, I knew it would be difficult for my rivals to do a faster round. I managed to keep to the number of strides I wanted, and always maintain forward momentum. I’m really pleased with Ayade, because she is really constant at this level. Last week, she won a major class at S’Hertogebosh. This is only my second win at the Saut Hermès, a competition which just seems to get better and better each year in terms of the atmosphere. There is a really good public; they are enthusiastic and lively; the support was already amazing yesterday.”

CSI 5* Le Saut Hermès / Class 6 16:30 : Anna-Julia Kontio and Romain Duguet win Le Saut Hermès

Le Saut Hermès is a very original class involving mixed-pair teams, made up of a male and a female rider. The pairs are decided by draw and the teams compete in a class over two rounds. The ranking is established by adding the scores over the two rounds, with the time of the second round used to separate teams if they finish with the same overall score.

Two pairs managed to ride clear rounds in the first round: The British rider Jessica Mendosa and the French rider Roger-Yves Bost, as well as the Finnish rider Anna-Julia Kontio and the Swiss rider Romain Duguet, a Hermès partner rider. In the second round, Roger-Yves Bost and Record d’Oréal unfortunately knocked a bar off meaning that he and his team-mate Jessica Mendosa finished 4th in the final rankings.

However, Anna-Julia Kontio (24 years old), riding the French horse Pacific des Essarts, and Romain Duguet, riding Twentytwo des Biches, managed to hold firm to the end! Nonetheless, there was enormous pressure on the Swiss rider’s shoulders since he was the last rider out and needed to complete a clear round for his “duo” to win the class.

Romain Duguet, who was born in France, is one of Hermès’ partner riders. “I love this competition at the Grand Palais and I am lucky enough to have great horses to ride here. On top of that, the luck of the draw gave me a fantastic team-mate in Anna-Julia! Twentytwo des Biches is only nine years old and is still learning, but she is constant and performs well. I’m really pleased with her.”

Romain will ride the same mare in tomorrow’s Grand Prix Hermès, to try win the class for the second year in a row, although he was riding a more experienced horse last year. “Obviously, it will be harder for Twentytwo tomorrow, but we’ll give it our best shot!”

Lucy Davis (USA) and Kevin Staut (FRA) finished second with one fault and a time of 76’’22, with the British rider Laura Renwick and the German rider Daniel Deusser in third place, also with 4 points and a time of 76’’92.