Big Star Jumps Yet Another Double Clear & Takes 3rd In La Baule Grand Prix
Monday 20 May 2013
The FEI 5* Longines Grand Prix at La Baule, France saw forty eight competitors come forward in the hope of securing 1st place and the lion's share of the €200,000 prize fund at stake.
Nick Skelton OBE and Beverley Widdowson’s 10 year-old bay stallion Big Star put in yet another solid performance in the first round by jumping clear and assuring themselves of a place in the jump off. Having produced one of the only two double clears achieved in the Nations Cup competition on Friday, the combination look set to be as on-form this year as they were when they played a pivotal role in securing a Team Gold at the London Olympics last year.
With only four combinations jumping clear in the first round, a field of twelve came forward for the jump off with the remaining eight being those that had completed the fastest round with the least penalties. Yet again, clear rounds in the jump off were rare and there were only three double clears produced.
The hugely talented combination of Nick and Big Star were one of three the combinations to jump another clear, but their time of 52.05 seconds just wasn’t quite fast enough to catch Patrice Delaveau from France with HDC Orient Express who stopped the clock at 50.28. Second place was taken by Frank Schuttert of The Netherlands partnering Winchester who finished in 51.78 seconds.
With only two seconds separating the top three places and the placings being fought out until the bitter end, spectators were treated to an absolutely nail-biting finish.
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