Tight at the top in inaugural Rolex Grand Prix

The inaugural Rolex Grand Prix at the Indoor Brabant in The Netherlands saw 14 of the world’s top 20 riders battling out – and just 0.15sec between first, second and third place.

Fast time

Out of 39 starters only five make it through to the jump-off. Penelope Leprovost was first to go, setting a fast time of 43.11sec riding Nice Stephanie, but Kevin Staut and Silvana HDC stopped the clock on 42.96sec to move into the lead.

Britain’s Joe Clee and Bertram Allen from Ireland both had one down, to finish fourth and fifth respectively, which meant it was down to Marco Kutscher to try to beat Kevin. As he jumped the final fence, it looked like victory was within his grasp, but Cornet’s Cristallo crossed the finishing line 0.01sec slower that the Frenchman’s winning time.

Big prizemoney

Now in its 47th year, this is the first time Rolex has sponsored the Grand Prix, enabling Indoor Brabant to increase the prize money to €350,000.

“Indoor Brabant has history and we need shows like this one, Aachen, Spruce Meadows and Geneva,” said Kevin. “The riders feel it and want to come back to these shows. When you go into a ring like Indoor Brabant, you can feel the history and the crowds stay late every night to watch the top sport that this show delivers.”