France brought the autumn European eventing season to a close with a triumphant performance to take all three top positions at the Pau three-star event.
Jean Teulere took the title with Espoir De La Mare Ecolit and was the only rider to finish on his dressage score. Jean Lou Bigot picked up just one time penalty in the final jumping phase with Icare D’Auzay to finish second. Nicolas Touzaint had been leading after the cross-country but a show jump down dropped him to third with Irham De Vaiges.
Britain’s Polly Stockton got off to a great start with Regulus to lead the dressage on 45.7, but 0.8 time penalties on the cross-country, followed by eight faults in the show jumping, dropped her to fourth place. Polly also finished seventh with Tom Quigley.
The show jumping proved extremely influential with only Jean Teulere and Cedric Lyard producing clear performances without time penalties. Britain’s Nicola Tweddle picked up eight faults on Skiver and 12 faults with Opposition Buzz to be the second highest placed British rider in ninth and 13th respectively.
Zara Phillips was eliminated on the cross-country with Ardfield Magic Star.
Results
1. Espoir De La Mare Ecoli (Jean Teulere) FRA 47.6
2. Icare D’Auzay (Jean Lou Bigot) FRA 49.9
3. Irham De Vaiges (Nicolas Touzaint) FRA 50.3
4. Regulus (Polly Stockton) GBR 54.5
5. The Frog (Clayton Fredericks) AUS 56.1
6. Casoar Des Touches (Christophe Guilleme) FRA 57.9
7. Tom Quigley (Polly Stockton) GBR 58.7
8. Caprice De La Cour (Gilles Viricel) FRA 61.4
9. Skiver (Nicola Tweddle) GBR 61.8
10. Kilkishen (Geoff Curran) IRL 61.9
Don’t miss Horse & Hound’s full report from Pau, including analysis and pictures, in this Thursday’s magazine (2 November, ’06)
