{"id":25466,"date":"2021-10-31T19:48:11","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T18:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/?p=25466"},"modified":"2021-10-31T19:48:11","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T18:48:11","slug":"balous-fly-high-and-isabella-russekoff-risk-it-all-to-win-the-csi2-grand-prix-at-the-autumn-met-ii-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/balous-fly-high-and-isabella-russekoff-risk-it-all-to-win-the-csi2-grand-prix-at-the-autumn-met-ii-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Balou\u2019s Fly High and Isabella Russekoff risk it all to win the CSI2* Grand Prix at the Autumn MET II 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, the 2021 Autumn MET resumed with its\u00a0second part of the tour in Oliva Nova, Spain and it was Isabella Russekoff (USA) and Balou\u2019s Fly High (Balou du Rouet x Grandeur) that went away with the biggest win in Sunday\u2019s CSI2* 1.45m Grand Prix\u00a0presented by Dammann Reitplatz- u. Sportplatzbau GmbH. \u201cThis is a really big win for me;\u00a0I have not had a FEI Grand Prix win yet,\u201d the happy winner commented.<\/p>\n

The Grand Prix course set by Spain\u2019s Elena Boix counted 13 obstacles and 16 efforts and it was a delicate deal, ending with a demanding line set right in front the Club \u2013 with a triple combination followed by a Liverpool upright and a bending line to the final oxer.<\/p>\n

A total of 12 horse-and-rider combinations out of a field of 68 cleared the first round, joining the deciding jump-off over a shortened track.\u00a0Clara Hallundb\u00e6k (DEN) on HH Best Buy (Baloubet du Rouet x San Patrignano Cassini), Koen Vereecke (BEL) on l\u2019Esmeralda van\u2019T Meulenhof (Nabab de Reve x Lord Z), Oliver Fletcher (GBR) on Hello William (Waldo van Dungen x Stakkato), Simon Morssinkhof (BEL) on Vivolta de Gree (Diamant de Semilly x Sandro Boy) and Emilie Paillot (SUI) on Cornettina (Balou du Reventon x Champion For Pleasure) were joined by Carlo Pfyffer (SUI) on Intermezzo (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Querlybet Hero), Harold Megahey (IRL) on Kingston (Ustinov x Insider), Deidre Reilly (IRL) on Kafka vd Heffinck (Calvaro F.C. x Diamant de Semilly), Christopher Kl\u00e4sener (GER) on Loopy (Leo von Faelz x Chacco-Blue), Andres Vereecke (BEL) on d\u2019Artagan RR (Diamant de Semilly x Calando I), Isabella Russekoff (USA) on Balou\u2019s Fly High (Balou du Rouet x Grandeur) and Mariel Victoria Aguirre (MEX) on Catwalk 22 (Catoki x Corofino I).<\/p>\n

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Oliva, Spain – 2021 October 31: Gold tour 1m45 – Grand Prix during CSI Mediterranean Equestrian Autumn Tour 2
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First to go in the jump-off, Clara Hallundb\u00e6k and\u00a0HH Best Buy threw down the gauntlet when crossing the finish line in 44.52 seconds. With seven riders in between failing to clear the fences and catch her time, it was Germany\u2019s Christopher Kl\u00e4sener on Loopy that eventually pushed\u00a0Hallunbaek to second and took\u00a0over the lead\u00a0after stopping the clock on 43.19 seconds.<\/p>\n

However, as second last to go in the jump-off, Isabella Russekoff and Balou\u2019s Fly High had plans. Taking all the risk towards the last fence, Russekoff managed to shave off fractions on Kl\u00e4sener\u2019s time and with 43.17 seconds the victory was hers. Kl\u00e4sener had to settle for the runner-up spot, Hallunbaek placed third, Megahey fourth while Vereecke \u2013 with the fastest time of the day but an unfortunate pole down \u2013 took the fifth spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought my horse when he was eight, and now he is fourteen,\u201d Russekoff told about her partner Balou\u2019s Fly High. \u201cI have known him for a long time, and we trust each other a lot which is a really good thing. He is my favourite horse, because I have had him the longest. I thought the course today really suited him, because he has a really big stride to make up the time.\u201c<\/p>\n

About her risky ride in the jump-off, Russekoff said: \u201cActually, my plan for the last line in the jump-off was to not count the strides but just go as fast as I could because I know he always leaves the last jump up.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is Russekoff\u2019s first time at the MET, and the American rider is enjoying her time at the venue. \u201cI really like the show, I think it is a great opportunity for two- and three-star riders to step up,\u201d she said. \u201cI have been going back and forth to Europe since 2014 and heard about MET\u00a0from my friends as it is a favourite show for all of them. I wanted to end my circuit in Europe with some two-and three-star shows and from here\u00a0I finish the two weeks before\u00a0I ship the horses back to Wellington for the Winter Equestrian Festival. It is such a nice facility here; I love it and definitely want to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here for full results.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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These photos may be used only in relation to this press release and must include photo credit<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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This week, the 2021 Autumn MET resumed with its\u00a0second part of the tour in Oliva Nova, Spain and it was Isabella Russekoff (USA) and Balou\u2019s Fly High (Balou du Rouet x Grandeur) that went away with the biggest win in Sunday\u2019s CSI2* 1.45m Grand Prix\u00a0presented by Dammann Reitplatz- u. Sportplatzbau GmbH. \u201cThis is a really…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autumn-met-2021-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25476,"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25466\/revisions\/25476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metoliva.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}