France’s Epaillard edges out Britain’s Brash at Olympia in London

“I really want to qualify for Paris,” Epaillard said after his €40,000 victory on 10-year-old chestnut mare Toupie de la Roque. “To ride at the Final in my own country would be fantastic!” And with his 20 points for the victory in London, Epaillard now sits in 15th place in the Western European League standings. 18 places are reserved for this regional league at the World Cup Final, the most out of any continental qualifying leagues in the world.

The Frenchman, currently ranked 35th in the world, came out on top of a tie-breaking jump-off round featuring four horse-and-rider combinations on Guilherme Jorge and Bob Ellis’ course at Olympia, with a faultless ride in a time of 36.91 seconds. Brash, who earlier in 2017 had won the Longines Global Champions Tour stage in London at the nearby Royal Hospital Chelsea, also finished with no rails down on the experienced Ursula XII, but in a slightly slower time of 37.34 s, picking up €32,000. In third on Inca Boy van T Vianahof was Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander (41.05 s, €24,000). Tops-Alexander, who is based in Europe, is now tied with France’s Kevin Staut for the lead in the league standings with 50 points.

Action continues at the Olympia through this Monday evening, with the show’s Grand Prix traditionally scheduled for the final evening. And among the other big winners in London this weekend were Ireland’s Bertram Allen in Saturday evening’s Christmas Tree Stakes, coming in ahead of big names like Harrie Smolders, Simon Delestre and Steve Guerdat.

Brash’s runner-up result in the London World Cup leg should be very encouraging for the World No.14, who also had an excellent 2nd place recently in Geneva, Switzerland in a showdown between the top riders on the planet. “I want to win more medals for my country, go to the Olympics and do these things,” The Telegraph quoted him as saying. “But I also understand how much it takes: you need to have a top horse, you need to be in top form and injury-free, which we haven’t been this year.”