Iran’s Pourrezal pips Lonehill’s Hendry in three-round final thriller
KYALAMI - Simon Hendry, a Lonehill resident who stables his horses in Kyalami, took silver in an exciting three-way jump-off against the clock in the closing competition of the FEI World Jumping Challenge Final 2015 in Zhitnica, Bulgaria.
Iranian rider, Davood Pourrezal, galloped to gold while Namibia’s Michelle Kuenzle took bronze at the event which was staged at the HRC Trakietz Equestrian Centre.
The final was open to Category A riders from 10 FEI regional zones and this year attracted 22 riders from 17 countries. Flags of Bermuda, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, India, Iran, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Syria, Swaziland, Uruguay and Venezuela were all flown with pride over the four-day competition.
The purpose of the FEI World Jumping Challenge Final series is to introduce less-experienced riders in comparatively remote countries to international-level competition. And the first test they faced at the final was building a relationship with a borrowed horse which is no easy feat at any time, even for professional riders.
As always, the horse-and-rider combinations were decided by a draw, which was followed by a training session and then a confidence building warm-up competition.
The results of the first two qualifiers decided the top 10 who would go into the final day.
First out in the final was Hendry who really put it up to the others in a time of 00.36.00 on his horse, Mirella Freni. When Kuenzle had a pole down on her feisty stallion, Charodey, then only did Pourrezal stand between the South African and the coveted title.
But the Iranian managed to squeeze home on Drazki in a time of 00.35.23 and this clinched the win. Pourrezal said afterwards that he knew Hendry would be his strongest opponent.
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