Today’s marathon course in the magnificent Parc du Hautbois, at the foot of the castle of the Haras National du Pin, was a spectacular spectacle for the thousands of visitors who came to enjoy the site under a summer’s sun. Despite finishing only 3rd in the test, young Hungarian Martin Hölle retains the provisional overall lead.

Photo – Martin Hölle (HUN). (Mélanie Guillamot)

Marathon: Martin Hölle (HUN) hits the nail on the head, France holds firm The three-time reigning World Champion is quietly on his way to a historic fourth title in a row. The Hungarian has a comfortable lead – to put it mildly! – over a member of the French team, but not the one we were expecting. François Dutilloy replaces Franck Grimonprez in second place in the provisional standings. The latter made two crossing errors, relegating him to 69th position. It was a difficult day for the French No. 1, who will not be able to defend the silver medal he won two years ago in Kronenberg (NED).

Even so, France remains 2nd in the team rankings behind Hungary, with Germany still in 3rd place. An unhoped-for result that will have to be defended hoof to hoof. While the first nation has a very comfortable lead, the next three are all within 2 points of each other, which is the penalty for any ball dropped during tomorrow’s cones test, scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sunday. This means that the suspense will be intense right up to the final round, and that the French, Germans and Swiss will be under immense pressure. The Dutch, currently in 5th place, still have a team card to play, just 6 points behind France.

The reaction of François Dutilloy (FRA), 2nd

What did you think about the marathon?

It’s a world championship, so that’s to be expected. We knew that this terrain, which we tested in July, would be very physical. Especially as, with eight obstacles compared with seven two months ago, and
two water complex in a row, we knew it would be technical. Like all major events, it’s a round that you have to approach calmly, with the aim of going all the way to the end, with your horses fresh all the way to the finish, with fluid trajectories, without jostling them, without dropping them, without making mistakes on the course. Once you’ve done that, you’re in a very good position. There are some youngsters who take a lot of risks, who will do a scratch time at an obstacle, but who can’t make it to the last at that pace.

Can you comment on the poor performance of your team-mate Franck Grimonprez?

That’s sport, it happens. It’s very complicated to remember the route of eight obstacles with all the combinations and options that we recognize several days in a row, sometimes we make last-minute choices.
Unfortunately, it happens to everyone. It just happened on the wrong day. Tonight, we should have been 2nd and 3rd, which would have been magnificent. That’s for another year.

Tonight, you find yourself back where he was two years ago.

Not yet, because tomorrow’s test is far from over. That’s the game. We don’t have a head start, it’ll be faultless in time or nothing tomorrow.

What does team spirit look like at times like these?

From the moment he went through a door backwards, for him it was over, but he kept going to finish his marathon and play for the team. Everyone’s in it for the long haul. In the team rankings, we can’t make
any mistakes, the gaps are very small. We need two clear rounds inside the time to have any hope of staying in 2nd place.

How does post-marathon recovery work?

As far as I’m concerned, I use the same two horses for all three tests. They have all the care they need, showered, examined, walked a long time and several times this evening to recover. They were in much better
shape at the finish of the marathon than I could have imagined. They were running at 80-85 bpm, which means they were in good condition and didn’t suffer too much. They’re going to be pampered. We have an extraordinary staff, the vet, a farrier, David, Virginie, Benjamin who are there for all the horses.

www.haras-national-du-pin.com

SCHEDULE:

Sunday 1st October:

9:00 – 4:00 Cones

4:30 – Medal Ceremony

Provisional individual ranking (after marathon)

1. Martin Hölle (HUN) / 137.95 pts
2- François Dutilloy (FRA) / 156.24 pts
3- Tor Van Den Berge (AUS) / 157.17
4- Marcel Lüder (SUI) / 158.40 pts
5- Kristof Osztertag (HUN) / 158.59 pts

Provisional team ranking (after marathon)

1- Hungary / 287.31 pts
2- France / 311.98 pts
3- Germany / 312.29 pts