32 Horse & Hound 8 August 2019
Pictures
by Lucy Merrell and Sportfot
SHOWJUMPING
Thestallionbouncesbackfroma ‘moodswing’toregainhissensationalform,
whileJosVerlooyscoresa Hickstead-LGCTdoublewithseriousequinetalent
Rouge De Ravel atones
THE story of the summer has
been Guy Williams’ phenomenal
run of form with the 14-year-old
stallion Rouge De Ravel. In one
month, the pair won every class
they completed, including three
grands prix and eight ranking
classes, taking in Hickstead, Mons
Ghlin, La Coruña and the Royal
International.
The only setback came in the
King George V Gold Cup where
they just missed a place in the
jump-off, and the copybook record
was again blighted in Saturday’s
grand prix (see p28) when one of
the stallion’s “mood swings” put a
halt to their chances in round one.
But back over a 1.45m track
on Sunday, the French-bred son
of Ultimo Van Ter Moude was
flying again, ably piloted by Guy toLGCT LONDON
CSI5* classesvictory in the speed class.
“I wanted to let him have some
fun in a much smaller class, and
he’ll probably go and win another
grand prix again next week,” said
Guy of the stallion who needs
careful management to nurture
his undeniable talent.
“When he gets in a temper,
you’re better off leaving him and
going to another show — where
he usually wins. He wasn’t quite
back up and running over the
first two fences here, but then he
picked up the bridle and there was
no chance after that; he’s so fast
and doesn’t hit the fences. I’m just
happy to finish with a good round
— top three would have done me
today but we got a few points and
he earned a pat on the neck.
“This month every year he‘She made my job easy today’ — Belgium’s Jos Verlooy steers
Jacobien Dwerse Hagen to victory in Sunday’s 1.55m jump-off class‘When he gets in a temper
you’re better off going to
another show — where he
usually wins’: Rouge De Ravel is
back to his best to take a 1.45m
speed class under Guy Williams