Daniel Deusser & Cornet D’Amour Ph. ©Thomas Reiner
After an entertaining day of competition, the main event of Day 1 of the Longines Masters of Hong Kong certainly didn’t disappoint, with Daniel Deusser of Germany riding to victory on the 15-year-old gray gelding Cornet D’Amour (Cornet Obolensky x Damiani) in the Friday’s 1.50m Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy.
Presented by Founding Partner the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Masters One event was contested for a prize purse of $84,000, with a first round featuring a field of 22 whittled down to a final 10 for a jump-off over a shorter course. Deusser not only went clear in both rounds, but also set the fastest times in both, clocking 71.85 seconds first time out, and then 38.73 seconds to take the jump-off by a margin of more than two seconds.
He was characteristically modest about his victory. “To be honest I was a little bit lucky to be fastest in the first round today,” he said. “And my jump-off wasn’t that smooth either, but the horse was really good today.”
He finished ahead of second-placed Jérôme Guery of Belgium on the 12-year-old grey Belgian Warmblood stallion Garfield de Tiji des Templiers (Quasimodo Z x Goldspring de Lauzelle) and third-placed Robert Smith of Great Britain on the 10-year-old bay stallion Ilton (Dulf van den Bisschop x Calvaro). Fourth and fifth spots were taken by Simon Delestre of France, who was second in the event last year, and John Whitaker of Great Britain.
Deusser particularly loves competing in Hong Kong, having racked up an incredible four victories out of six in the inaugural 2013 event. He is also the reigning champion of the Longines Grand Prix, having picked up the title in Paris in December.
Full results at this link.
Source: Longines Masters