MOROCCO ROYAL TOUR 2023 : THE KICK-OFF FOR A WORLD-RENOWNED TOUR
Tetouan, Thursday, September 5, 2023 – The kick-off was given at 1:45pm: the Morocco Royal Tour 2023 is underway. Forty-six competitors in the CSI 1* and seventy-three (!) in the CSI 4* representing eighteen nations and three continents. Yes, the Moroccan circuit has established its international credentials!
A situation which delights Badre Fakir, General Manager of the Fédération Royale Marocaine des Sports Equestres and kingpin of the Morocco Royal Tour: “This twelfth edition is a continuation of the previous ones, with the determination to maintain this well-established position on the international circuit, while constantly striving, year after year, to improve all the components of our three competitions, not only in terms of organization, but also in terms of welcoming international riders, while at the same time giving our national riders the opportunity to express themselves among the world’s elite”. And it’s true that we’re talking about the world’s elite, given the line-up already present in Tetouan: “We’re also welcoming new nations who’ve never been to Morocco before, as well as Olympic medallists such as Belgium’s Jérôme Guéry, who is also the reigning world vice-champion, a bronze medallist from the last European Championships with Austria’s Katharina Rhomberg, and a member of the world’s top 10 with Simon Delestre. They come or return because they know they will find here technical conditions and infrastructures worthy of the greatest international events, with that extra touch of Moroccan soul and sense of hospitality which no doubt play a part in their decision to come here. And let’s not forget the prize money, as these are professional riders. As you can see, the Morocco Royal Tour is attracting people, bringing them together, and that’s a great source of satisfaction for all of us. It stimulates our Moroccan riders, as last year’s results showed”… where all three Grand Prix victories were Moroccan.
This twelfth edition began with good news for FRMSE’s General Manager, with a Moroccan hat-trick in the first CSI 1* event of the day, the Prix d’Oued Draa: victory of young Mohammed Nizar Souktani ahead of Yassir Arbain and Zakaria Zoundi, but also a second place for Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon with Ingmar in the Prix de l’Indépendance of the CSI 4* behind the untouchable Emanuele Gaudiano (Jaja), because in Tetouan, in the end, it’s often the Italian who wins!
RESULTS TOP 5
PRIX D’OUED DRAA
CSI 1* – 1.25 m in two phases
47 Participants and 12 Classifieds
1) Mohammed Nizar Souktani, MAR – Genesis Z 0-0/27.34, 2) Yassir Arbain, MAR – d’Angel La Tuilerie 0-0/28.22, 3) Zakaria Zoundi, MAR – Dahmaniah 0-0/29.14, 4) Xena Braeckmans, BEL – Isabel van het Harteveld 0-0/29.18, 5) Dominique Zbinden, SUI – Othello Vom Eigen 0-0/29.78
PRIX DE L’INDEPENDANCE
CSI4*-W 1.40 m – Faults & Time
73 Participants et 19 Classified
1) Emanuele Gaudiano, ITA – Jaja 0/58.10, 2) Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon, MAR – Ingmar 0/59.89, 3) Charlotte Philippe, BEL – Godiva S 0/59.99, 4) Simon Delestre, FRA – Crack d’Aiguilly Z 0/61.83, 5) Roberto Previtali, ITA – Come On Semilly 0/62.10,
Full results: https://online.equipe.com/shows/58614