Victor Bettendorf wins Royal Windsor Horse Show Grand Prix
What a performance by Victor Bettendorf! The number one Luxembourg show jumper and number 55 in the world stunned the world on Sunday by winning the CSI 5* Grand Prix over 1.60 meters at the prestigious Royal Windsor Horse Show. Having already qualified for the jump-off with the second-fastest time of 81.26 seconds on Qwando van de Rispen without a fault, he practically flew through the jump-off course in 37.41 seconds, remaining faultless once again and taking home €125,000 in prize money! With this time, he relegated the British riders Ben Maher (Point Break, 38.26) and Sienna Charles (Chawton, 44.03) to second and third place, respectively.
In the course designed by the Portuguese Bernardo Costa Cabral, Bettendorf was the first to tee off in the final of this tournament, held on the grounds of Windsor Castle, and went “all in,” a tactic that would pay off. The 36-year-old Luxembourger was quoted on the tournament website as follows:
“As first to go, I was trying to go quickly in the jump-off but I didn’t have the best stride into the combination, which I thought slowed me down. After my round, I thought ok, I will finish behind Ben and Matthew for sure, but I was lucky they were a bit slower. I’ve been dreaming about this green blanket for a while, so I’m really proud and happy to win one. I’m really grateful.”
This was by no means his only top performance in England. Riding the same horse, he secured another podium finish last Friday, taking third place in a two-phase 1.45-meter jumping competition. Matthew Sampson (GB, Nouvelle vh Veldhof) won this class ahead of Abdullah Alsharbatly (KSA, Valentino). The following day, also riding “Qwando,” he finished fourth in a 1.50-meter class. On the final day, before the aforementioned Grand Prix, he also won a 1.50-meter jumping competition with Atchoum de la Roque. In 58.46 seconds, the pair relegated Bettendorf’s “Madrid in Motion” teammate, Jack Whitaker (GB), riding Skyfall Os, to second place (59.74 seconds) and Irishman Daniel Cayle with Daydream to third (60.29 seconds).
Translated from German by AI and adjusted by Paul Krier. Original article also to be published in the “Lëtzebuerger Bauer” weekly newspaper.