James Loffet 2nd in Hardelot Veterans Grand Prix
Tuesday 29 May 2018
The CSIV-B at Hardelot in Northern France saw James Loffet finish 2nd in the Europa Cup Grand Prix on Sunday riding Ed Howard’s 14 year-old gelding, Zandokan H.
The course, which was both technical and up-to-height, jumped surprisingly well with exactly half of the thirty-two strong field jumping clear in the first round; three of whom were British riders Catherine Fowdrey, Keith Stockdale and James. The nine fence second round, against the clock, featured an unusual line of two one-stride doubles separated by a long six stride related distance. This caused most of the problems in the jump off and at the finish there were only four double clears achieved.
Drawn in reverse order of their first round scores, all competitors could jump the second round and their faults were carried forward. James jumped 3rd out of the 16 first round clears and set a fast time of 55.09 seconds to take the lead. Only Sabine Locquet from France could beat him crossing the line in 54.72. Catherine Fowdrey finished in 15th place.
Results:
1st Sabine Locquet (France) VIP Van de Centaur 0/0 54.72 secs
2nd James Loffet (GBR) Zandokan H 0/0 55.09 secs.
3rd Sylvie Thomas (France) Alize de Landette 0/0 56.02 secs.
