News

Good start of indoor season for Deusser

Oct 3, 2016

The best riders in the world delivered a passionate fight in the Longines Grand Prix of Los Angeles, from which Daniel Deusser and Equita van ’t Zorgvliet emerged as winners. The German rider is definitely the man to beat at the next two legs of the Longines Masters Series, taking place in Paris and Hong Kong.
The initial course proposed by the new course designer of the Longines Masters Series, Uliano Vezzani, was difficult and at the level of what we can expect from an excellent 5* Grand Prix. The course forced a lot of faults from riders. Ten made the perfect round and went on to battle it out in a thrilling jump-off in a course where the Italian Maestro played with back-turns and long gallops.

Nayel Nassar (Lordan) quickly found himself in the leader’s seat, and was hoping to add his name to the prestigious board of stars of the Longines Masters. “I was kind of expecting it. There were a lot of good riders after me. I’m really happy with my horse, I know him so well at this point. I’ve spent an amazing week with him. It could have been better if it was not for this guy,” he laughed pointing at Daniel Deusser.
Yes, the German rider claimed the victory in this Longines Grand Prix of Los Angeles, even though he was competing indoor for the first time with his 12-year-old mare Equita van’t Zorgvliert: “I had to make adjustments really quickly with her as she had never competed indoor before. The first two days were not amazing, she had one down, we took the last fence yesterday, but today she tried really hard. I saw that on the west coast they were really fast so I knew I had to try everything to beat this young guy, to take all the risks. I was a little bit lucky on the plank, but at the end, she played the game today, and she was amazing!” Would he have taken inspiration from Harrie Smolders’s round, the third rider to go on the podium? It’s what the Dutch rider thinks, and joked. “I had a perfect last line. I think Daniel just watched what I did and did it better himself, that’s all!”
“I must say that the organization puts on unbelievable shows with very high class. I think the Longines Masters Series is probably the highest quality show we have in the world,” congratulated Harrie Smolders, who rode Don VHP Z to third place.
Attention is now focused on the Parisian leg, the Longines Masters of Paris, that will be held Dec. 1-4, at the Parc des Expositions de Villepinte-Paris Nord. Daniel Deusser will be expected as a favorite, now that he is the candidate to win the new Super Grand Slam Bonus of 2.25 million euros.