THE HUBSIDE JUMPING ON THE ROAD TO TOKYO

*THE BEST LADY RIDER IN THE WORLD IN GRIMAUD FOR THE FIRST TIME

Mdmar – Grimaud, France
Press release

Here we go again! The HUBSIDE JUMPING de Grimaud will be hosting the world’s elite showjumpers on the French Riviera once again until 11 July. The first in this session of four weekends of competition, the CSI4* at the end of this week, will include one guest of honour among the riders entered: America’s Beezie Madden, currently the best lady rider in the world. The Olympic Games in Tokyo are nearly upon us and will definitely be in everyone’s minds: in Grimaud, the best horse and rider combinations will be able to prepare in the best conditions possible for the sport’s greatest event! Competition open to the public with a maximum of 1,000 people present on-site. Open to all, free admission. It is mandatory to wear a face mask.

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There will be an Olympic feeling in the air this weekend at this HUBSIDE JUMPING CSI 4 show … and the star-spangled banner may possibly be flown there if one of the three US lady riders expected to take part wins. And what incredible riders they are! It’s simple, the three best-placed lady riders in the Longines FEI Rankings will be on the French Riviera, including the best of the best, a legend among legends, Beezie Madden. Currently World number 11, the lady rider has also … brace yourself … won the World Cup Final twice (in Gothenburg in 2013 and in Paris-Bercy in 2018), been a double World silver medallist (individually and as a member of the American team in 2006), a two-time Olympic team gold medallist (in 2004 and 2008) and is the current Olympic team silver medallist! In Grimaud she will be accompanied by Breitling LS, with which she was the winner in the ring of the Paris-Bercy AccorHotels Arena. Competing against her, the real challenge may come from within, with two other US riders who are particularly impressive, Jessica Springsteen who is currently World number 27, and Laura Kraut, currently 28th in the Longines FEI rankings and a loyal HUBSIDE JUMPING participant.

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Grimaud: on the road to Tokyo The line-up of riders and horses at the HUBSIDE JUMPING very regularly resembles that of a major championship. It has to be said that for the past two seasons, since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the HUBSIDE JUMPING team has been working hard to support high-level sport in the best possible way, by organising regular events at all costs, in order to keep riders and especially horses in form. In the Haras des Grillons de Grimaud’s huge sand ring, with dimensions close to those which will be used in To k y o ( 1 2 0 x 7 0 m i n G r i m a u d v s 1 0 0 x 8 0 m f o r t h e B a j i K o e n E q u e s t r i a n P a r k ) , t h e c o u r s e s o f t h e greatest European course designers follow one another, including those of France’s Gregory Bodo, who will officiate alongside Santiago Varela this summer in Japan. Cédric Longis, who is also French and regularly designs the courses of the HUBSIDE JUMPING’s CSI 4 and 5 classes, explains that the Olympics are naturally on the minds of all the show’s course designers: “the closer the Games get, the more complex the ringmaster’s job becomes. Indeed, in Grimaud we host a line-up that is systematically worthy of a championship: we therefore have to offer great sport, in line with the image of the top riders in the ring, without organising the Games before the Games, while taking care never to force the horses. When they arrive in Tokyo, the horses must be ready but in no way tired. Especially as they are coming out of a long break and 2020 was a year with a lot less competitions: some of them are still breaking in and we have to get them back into the swing of things little by little.” To do this, as part of this Olympic preparation to which the HUBSIDE JUMPING contributes, the Parisian region course designer watches what his colleagues are doing very closely: “I constantly look at what the course designers who have been here in the weeks before me came up with, to be able to offer a whole range of courses: if one used slightly short lines one week, the following week I will use longer lines; the same with the combinations, I try to vary. The idea is really to allow the horses to try out as many kinds of courses as possible that they are likely to find at future championships; it is also important not to favour horses that would be more at ease on a particular type of course two shows in a row.

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”As for the riders, the selections will also be made in GrimaudAt a time when the chefs d’équipe will have to shorten their long lists and establish their Olympic selections, the greatest riders confirm that they have included the HUBSIDE JUMPING Grimaud-Gulf of Saint-Tropez in their preparation schedule. Scotland’s Scott Brash, the 2012 Olympic team gold medallist, explained last May: “With the Olympic Games in the back of my mind, I will now have to work on a programme for Tokyo. My horses’ schedules are already booked: I will prepare several of them for these Games as several are eligible for selection. The HUBSIDE JUMPING will of course be part of this preparation programme: the large sand arena and the heat of the south of France can prepare us for what awaits us in Japan. It’s important for me to see how each of my horses performs here.” In Tokyo in August, average temperatures vary between 24 and 30°C and the humidity is close to 80%. The weather data is quite similar on the French Riviera in June, although slightly lower than those of the Japanese climate (average temperature of 24°C, humidity of 75%).

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America’s Laura Kraut, who is also an Olympic team gold medallist (in 2008), explains that she has also included the HUBSIDE JUMPING in her preparation schedule.CSI 5* events will be rare on the other side of the Atlantic before the date when Robert Ridland, the American chef d’équipe, will have to make his final selection for Tokyo. So the lady rider knows that the HUBSIDE JUMPING is being watched from the other side of the Atlantic: “The HUBSIDE JUMPING is an important competition for my season. Given the limited number of shows from which the chefs d’équipe will be able to make their selection for Tokyo, I will really have to be very good because it is undeniable that my results here in France will be reviewed in the United States.” On 18 May, the French Equestrian Federation published a long list of eleven combinations likely to fly to 182, Chemin Camp Marin 83310 Grimaud, France Japan to defend the ultimate title; Thierry Pomel, the national selector, should present his team a few days after the CSIO of Rotterdam CSIO, at the beginning of July. Between now and then, the HUBSIDE JUMPING Grimaud-Gulf of Saint-Tropez will have organised two CSI 4* and one CSI 5. “mdmar” news site for horse racing and equestrian
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