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Jeanne Engela. Photo by TB Images.This past weekend in Johannesburg, the first leg of the South African World Cup qualifier series took place. It was the 22 year old Jeanne Engela that rode to victory in the Knowles Husain Lindsay Attorneys Inc FEI World Cup Qualifier on her 10 year old mare, Cloof Wine’s Chanel (Canturo x Accord II). The pair were the only combination to jump a double clear round over a track built by Portuguese course designer, Bernardo Costa Cabral.

Katie Dinan ended up on top. Photo by The Book LLC.Three teenagers and a veteran rounded out the jump-off in the $100,000 Empire State Grand Prix presented by The Kincade Group, and the first to go in was the one to return to the winner's circle. Nineteen-year-old Katie Dinan of New York, NY, and her energetic partner Nougat du Vallet were double clear to win the biggest class of the Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows, which ran May 7-12 and 14-19. The competition concluded two great weeks of equestrian sport in North Salem with incredible entries and top horses and riders.

The $100,000 Empire State Grand Prix had 37 competitors, and they rode over a course designed by Anthony D'Ambrosio of Red Hook, NY. Riding second in the order, Dinan and “Nougat,” a 12-year-old Selle Francais gelding by Scherif D'elle, made it look easy as they bounded through the course for the first clear round. They returned first for the jump-off and set a quick pace and the only clear round in 39.898 seconds.

Nr.1; Cameron and Antello Z. All photos by Jenny Abrahamsson.

Snapshots of horses, grooms and the winner waiting for the prize giving after the Grand Prix in Wiesbaden. Here's Madeleine with Sterrehof's Tamino. All photos by Jenny Abrahamsson. 

Rolf and Quintero Ask in action. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.We surely didn't have luck on our side this weekend. Today Quintero Ask and I were clear on the fences in the Grand Prix, but ended with one time fault. It was before and after the combination at number three that I lost the time. Quintero Ask has jumped really good the whole weekend, but in every class there has been something in the way of ending with a great results - a stupid fault in the Longines Global Champions Tour GP and today an annoying time fault.

Kathi with her new watch. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Katharina Offel and Hans-Dieter Dreher were the two best riders overall in Wiesbaden. Kathi was the best female rider during the show, while Hans-Dieter Dreher was the best male rider. Both of them were honored with a watch from Longines during the prize giving after the Grand Prix. Both riders have had a terrific weekend, pikcing up one ribbon after the other.

The winners; Cameron Hanley and Antello Z. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.The winner Cameron Hanley has been out of the sport for two years, and recently made his comeback. Hanley had an accident where he injured his leg, and had to undergo several operations. Now he is back in top form, but still has some difficulties walking. "Luckily for me riding is better than walking, but it was always like that," Cameron said after his win.

On his winning ride Antello Z, Cameron explained that the gelding was found as a seven year old by his brother Carl Hanley; "We bought him together. I rode him in the beginning when he was eight before I was injured, and then we sold half of him to Michael Whitaker. Then I got injured and my brother's rider Alex Duffy rode him for almost one year. He won the U25 Grand Prix in Paris, and Michael was there and saw him jumping and said that he wanted to ride that horse. So we send him to Michael and he competed him last year. I was very fortunate this year when I was back riding; I got a new sponsor and they said that we needed a Grand Prix horse. I told them that I knew a very special horse and that was Antello. Luckily we were able to buy him back. To win a Grand Prix like this so quickly - this is just my third of fourth show with him - is really unbelievable!"

Cameron Hanley with Antello Z. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.After a two year break due to an injury, Cameron Hanley is back stronger than ever which he proved by winning the Grand Prix in Wiesbaden with Antello Z after two amazing rounds. 46 riders came to start in the first round and the 12 best went to the second round - all of them clear. Two combinations, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson with Quintero Ask and Jeroen Dubbeldam with Quality Time, were just outside the time and had one time fault which prevented them for taking part of the second round.  The faults came spread throughout the entire course, and the open water caused some surprising problem for several riders. Some horses landed in the middle of it while both Janne-Friedrike Meyer and Alberto Michan were eliminated as their horses refused to jump.

Luciana Diniz leads the DKB-Riders Tour. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Luciana Diniz is in the lead on the DKB-Riders Tour standing after the third leg in Wiesbaden. Joint rank two is the Hamburg Derby winner Gilbert Tillmann, the winner of Hagen Grand Prix John Whitaker and the winner of Wiesbaden Grand Prix Cameron Hanley. Three riders are joint fifth; Carsten-Otto Nagel, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Hans-Dieter Dreher.

Youngsters, riders and grooms waiting for the jump-off. All photos by Jenny Abrahamsson. 

The rain start to pour down when Denis Lynch and Anyway entered the ring to ride the jump-off. They ended third in the final after winning the youngster class yesterday. All photos by Jenny Abrahamsson. 

Gregory Wathelet won the Youngster Tour Final in Wiesbaden. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Sunday’s Youngster Tour Final in Wiesbaden went to Gregory Wathelet and Citizenguard Million Dreams (Diamant de Semilly x Concetto). The Belgian rider and the beautiful eight year old were the best in this 1.40 class that had 32 riders in it. A slippy and wet grass ring gave the horses some difficult conditions, but still seventeen made it to the jump-off where Gregory had the fastest time at 39.40 – producing yet another clear round. Closest to him came Philipp Weishaupt on the lovely Chico (Cordalme Z x Sandro) with a time of 40.55 seconds, while Denis Lynch was third on Anyway II (No Limit x Farmer). Katharina Offel ended fourth on the well jumping Luke Skywalker (Lord Pezi x Sandro Song).

Click here for full results.

Jeroen Dubbeldam and Utascha SFN. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Jeroen Dubbeldam was asked if it is normal for Utascha SFN to take a break and eat some grass on her way out of the ring, as she did so both after the first round and after the jump-off; "It looks like it. She likes to eat a little grass after her rounds, it is like a small treat for her."

He also explained what he liked the most with Utascha; "She has a fantastic attitude. She is a quality horse, but that can also become a problem. She has so much quality that she can get afraid, and we had that problem with the triple combinations - but we have tried to solve it through working on her trust and she really took that to her. I will ride Quality Time tomorrow as this is the first outdoor show for Utascha and we ended our indoor season so bad with the problem in the triple combinations so I want to let her jump in some smaller classes for the first shows.

Patrice Delaveau and Orient Express took a home win in La Baule. Here seen in Rotterdam. Photo by Jenny Abrahamsson.Patrice Delaveau took home the Grand Prix in La Baule Sunday aboard Orient Express (Quick Star x Le Tot de Semilly). Following him in second place was the Dutch talent Frank Schuttert and Winchester H S (Numero Uno x Nimmerdor) while Nick Skelton secured third place with Big Star (Quick Star x Nimmerdor). The top three riders were the only ones to produce two clear rounds as Sunday’s course in La Baule caused difficulties for several riders. After the first round only four out of 48 riders were clear, but the twelve best riders went on to the second round. This was Patrice’s second big win for the weekend as he also won the Derby Saturday with Ornella Mail *Hdc (Lando x Alligator Fontaine).