Julien Epaillard & Safari d’Auge. © Stefan Lafrentz
The winner in the qualifier for the first scoring class in the DKB Riders Tour 2016 is no stranger: France’s Julien Epaillard left his competitors in the dust with his Selle Francais gelding Safari d’Auge (Diamont de Semilly x Papillon Rouge), as he once did at the DKB Riders Tour in Paderborn in 2015. And Epaillard had already won twice earlier in the week at Horses & Dreams CSI4* in Hagen, Germany.
“This is definitively my tour,” Epaillard said enthusiastically after his fast round in 43.86 seconds in the jump-off, presented by LVM Versicherung.
Compliments for the horse
Epaillard relegated eight competitors to the fringe, among them Germany’s Guido Klatte Jr. from Lastrup who finished second with Quinghai and who is very proud of his success.
“I already experienced it last year, it’s simply fantastic,” said Epaillard with the wink of an eye. “This is an excellent tournament, and of course, I was lucky, too – we touched the first obstacle, but then we had a good run and a fantastic finish. I am looking forward to tomorrow…”
Respect for riders, horses and course builder
“We saw fantastic, top-class sport,“ said Paul Schockemöhle, Executive Director of the Riders Tour GmbH, praised the riders. And he did not forget the specialty of this series: “There are also other events of this kind. We concentrate on stages in Germany. And it has always been our aim to provide young, talented riders such an opportunity. International starting places are rare.”
Guido Klatte, who still belongs to the “Young Riders” age-group, impressed with 9-year-old, Oldenburg gelding Quinghai (Quidam de Revel x Cordalme Z), apart from the French Nations Cup rider Epaillard. “I am that happy, it is indeed something special to finish second in front of such a huge audience,” said Klatte.
However, the youngster is modest when it comes to the scoring on Sunday, the Grand Prix, presented by Deutsche Kreditbank AG, and starting at 1.00 pm: “I think that means some extra miles. The course builder will certainly have something in plan.” Klatte Jr. said, who already won the Big Tour opening stage of the DKB-Riders-Tour on Friday with Coolio.
For full results, see here.