It was a home victory for France in the seventh leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour in Paris on Saturday (5 July).
Kevin Staut and Silvana, who were last to go in the jump-off, managed to seal victory in front of the home crowd under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer finished in second and Germany’s Marcus Ehning was third.
The Frenchman now leads the series by one point ahead of Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson.
Kevin’s experienced grey mare is 15 years old.
“She is an old mare, but she is still giving her best,” Kevin said.
Britain’s Scott Brash finished fifth as the fastest of the four-faulters in the jump-off with exciting 10-year-old mare Hello Annie — owned by Lord and Lady Harris and Lord and Lady Kirkham.
Fellow British contenders Ben Maher and Michael Whitaker both clocked up eight faults.
However, Ben did taste success in Friday (4 July) night’s feature class — the 1.50m Prix Du Qatar.
Despite being drawn first to go in the 15-rider jump-off, Ben and Aristo Z managed to set an unbeatable time.
“I didn’t have a great draw, but he’s an unbelievably quick,” said Ben.
For a full report from the GCT in Paris don’t miss this week’s Horse & Hound magazine — out Thursday (10 July)
