{"id":105156,"date":"2025-11-08T21:14:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T20:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fieracavalli.it\/?p=105156"},"modified":"2025-11-09T10:37:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T09:37:20","slug":"brilliant-bucci-clinches-crivelli-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fieracavalli.it\/en\/jumping-verona-en\/brilliant-bucci-clinches-crivelli-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Brilliant Bucci clinches Crivelli Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

Piergiorgio Bucci<\/strong> brought day two at Jumping Verona to the perfect close with a thrilling victory in the Crivelli Prize riding the fabulous grey stallion Pallieter vd N. Ranch.<\/p>\n

Course designer Uliano Vezzani set them a tough task in the first round in which there were three eliminations and eight decisions to retire. However 11 horse-and-rider combinations found the key to the 13-fence track and with three Italians through to the second-round jump-off the crowd were kept on the edges of their seats.<\/p>\n

Fourth to go, it was French star Simon Delestre who set the target with the first clear with the nine-year-old stallion Gatsby du Tillard who raced through the timers in 38.02 seconds but it seemed very likely he would be overtaken by his compatriot, Julien Epaillard, who shaved almost a second off that only to leave the second-last fence on the floor.<\/p>\n

Foot-perfect
\n<\/strong>Spain\u2019s Armando Trapote and Caept’n Hook were foot-perfect but didn\u2019t threaten the lead when stopping the clock on 40.06. Like Epaillard, Great Britain\u2019s Robert Whitaker and Gentleman also clipped the penultimate oxer while posting a competitive time, but Bucci and Pallieter made no mistake. Cutting every corner without losing balance and galloping every inch of the way, the pair scorched through the finish in 36.55 seconds to really put it up to the remaining three.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Edwina Alexander and Iron Dames Cydello left all the timber intact, but their time of 40.16 seconds would only be good enough for fifth place when Germany\u2019s Richard Vogel and the ten-year-old Phenyo van het Keysersbos came closest to Bucci\u2019s winning team when the clock showed 36.66 seconds for runner-up spot. They looked set to topple the Italian coming down the last line, but were denied the win by just 0.11 seconds. Delestre, Trapote and Tops-Alexander lined up in the next three places.<\/p>\n

Delighted
\n<\/strong>Bucci, one of the most popular riders on the Italian and international circuit, was delighted with his well-deserved result.<\/em>
\n\u201cI\u2019m very, very proud and very, very happy – it\u2019s my first big win with this horse. I\u2019m riding him for no more than three or four months and it\u2019s a fantastic horse, now we really start to understand each other. He\u2019s competitive, intelligent and I\u2019m really happy for him and for his owner Francesca who is here. This is the best place to start winning with him! I\u2019ve had a lot of great years at Verona but never a great result like this one! So it\u2019s a bit special!\u201d<\/em>, he said.<\/p>\n

Clever
\n<\/strong>\u201cThis horse is so clever. I call him Artificial Intelligence, he\u2019s the type of horse that\u2019s always thinking with me so it\u2019s great to ride him. The quality and such a cool brain, it\u2019s fantastic and I feel really lucky to have him\u201d<\/em>, he said of the attractive grey who has also been competed by fellow-Italians Alberto Zorzi, Giampiero Garafalo and Filippo Bassan since ridden by Dutchman Loewie Joppen up to September 2024.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow Bucci will take his other new ride, Cortez van\u2019t Klein Asdonk Z, in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier which will bring Jumping Verona 2025 to a close.
\nThere is plenty more excitement to come\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

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