3rd victory for Saudi Arabia in Rabat with Ramzy Al Duhamy and Untouchable 32

© R&B Presse / Morgan Froment

Rabat FEI World Cup Grand Prix

Prix SAR la princesse Lalla Amina (1.50m Table A in two rounds, 25% of starters or all clear in the second round on time)

For a while, it looked like a double for Ines Jolly who, after her victory in Tetuán, was leading this World Cup Grand Prix for a long time. And we believed it even more when Adbullah Alsharbatly, inevitably the favorite after his incredible day yesterday, came to a halt over the second obstacle, a black and white oxer which at first glance seemed insignificant. But that was without counting on Ramzy Al Duhamy and his Olympic Untouchable 32. When one Saudi falters, another emerges!

The young Frenchwoman gave it her all but didn’t lose her smile: “It’s the first time I’ve found myself with Ambassador Z in a ‘real play-off’ with 17 competitors, where we had to play the game. There were only two of us when I won in Monte Carlo, so the strategy here was to risk everything, and it worked. It’s a shame; it was only 20 hundredths… Ambassador is a fighter and a horse I adore. As soon as I saw him at Abdel Said’s, it was love at first sight… However, on our first show, in the warm-up, on a bar just twenty centimeters high, he tossed me. But I didn’t blame him. But he’s a horse I adore and always will, even when he puts me in the dirt. Now he’s too nice. He doesn’t like to lose. I wanted to cut into the line from the second to the third fence, but he stumbled…if I’d been able to get in front, we’d have had it, but I’m still happy.”

Ramzy Al Duhamy was happy, too, of course. He, too, had only one plan: to go as fast as possible without taking into account Ines Jolly’s course, which he hadn’t been able to see, with a mare who isn’t noted for her speed, as their time penalty in last week’s Grand Prix of Tetouan can attest. But this week, the Saudi has clearly found the synergy: “With Untouchable, we’re getting to know each other very well, and we’ve become real partners. She’s very sensitive, and for some time now, she’s been showing that she’s a world-class mare. She’s not the fastest, and I have to find solutions to shave off the time. She’s got a big stride, and that helps me on this big track, which I particularly like. I love this competition, this circuit, which is like a family reunion where you can get together in a friendly atmosphere while at the same time, in a technical sense, everything is perfect”. After such a razzia over the first two days, can Saudi Arabia be considered as the favorite for Sunday’s Nations Cup? It’s easy to imagine this coming to fruition! 

The other events…

Prix Administration des Douanes et Impôts Indirects (4*, faults & time, 1.40 m)

After a perfect Moroccan quinté led by Ghali Chaoui in the first event of the day, a 1* speed class, 40 horses and riders met for the 4* time trial on the magnificent Dar Es Salam federal track.

Belgium’s Thierry Goffinet and the grey 10-year-old French Selle Extrême du Gue clinched the event in the final minutes. Italy’s Paolo Paini held the lead for some time with Japonica Di Ca’ San Giorgio. A victory full of promise for the Belgian: “I’m riding new horses here that I’ve just acquired. They arrived just a week before the start of the MRT! So it’s a more than encouraging result, even if it was a tricky course for me with this first horse: I don’t have all the answers yet, but Extrême du Gue seems to have faith in me, and this victory is proof of that. I think I’ll be able to enter him in the Grand Prix soon, but it’s a good start for this horse.”

On Sunday, Thierry Goffinet will be part of the Belgian team trying to defend their title for the Nations Cup in Morocco. Another first for Goffinet with Derby Landais, but the man is optimistic: “We have four good horses here in Morocco, even if it will be a first for me with Derby Landais, whom I’ll be riding first in the Grand Prix. However, the other three have already competed in the Nations Cup with their horses. We’re a very close-knit team, and I promise you that we’re going to give everything we’ve got to keep this Nations Cup in Morocco.

Prix SAR LA PRINCESSE LALLA AMINA (FEI World Cup Grand Prix)

1.50 m, Barème A, two rounds

49 starters and 13 placed

1) Ramzy Al Duhami, KSA – Untouchable 32 0-0/43.53, 2) Ines Joly, FRA – Ambassador Z 0-0/43.75, 3) Marine Scauflaire, BEL – Cuba Libre de Nevada Z 0-0/46.06, 4) Iván Serrano Sáez, ESP – Chalawito PS 0-0/47.12, 5) Thomas de Wit, BEL – Tools Dw Z 0-0/47.28

Prix ADMINISTRATION DES DOUANES ET IMPOTS INDIRECTS

CSIO4*-W – 1.40 m – Faults & Time

40 Starters and 12 Classified

1) Thierry Goffinet, BEL – Extrême du Gue 0/59.93, 2) Paolo Paini, ITA – Japonica Di Ca’ San Giorgio 0/60.46, 3) Bryan Balsiger, SUI – Psg Invictus 0/60.58, 4) Ramzy Al Duhami, KSA – Kanshebber S 0/60.81, 5) Abdelkebir Ouaddar, MAR – Festival d’Argouges 0/63.95

At the end of the Grand Prix, the starting order for the Nations Cup was drawn:

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