48 competitors competed in the Trophée de Genève, a qualifier for Sunday's Rolex Grand Prix. The course, designed by Gérard Lachat, featured 16 fences, including a triple and double combination, which led to some mistakes in the course, with the plank at fence no. 5 and the vertical in the middle of the triple were undoubtedly the biggest problems. There was disappointment for Irish rider Shane Sweetnam, who competed with Cjoxx Z and was penalised a small point for going over the time limit. The same happened to Janika Sprunger from Switzerland with Orelie and Conor Swail from Ireland with Calciet EB Z, but time is also a factor at this level. In the end, 15 riders managed to ride a perfect round and secure a place in the jump-off.

And they all knew they would have to ride fast and clear to win, as their rivals were ready to give it their all. Luxembourg's Victor Bettendorf, who had already won the first two competitions at this CHI Geneva, was in top form and opened the course with his crack horse Mr Tac. With a clear round in 38.63 minutes, Bettendorf mastered the difficult task of being the first to start the jump-off. This put the pressure on the competition. Switzerland's Pius Schwizer and Chelsea Z also jumped clear, albeit a little slower. The run of double clear rounds continued. Belgium's Gregory Wathelet and his Bond Jamesbond de Hay were the third starters to stop the clock a little earlier, which meant third place in the end. This motivated the young Briton Harry Charles in his Romeo 88, who was two hundredths faster. But then came the American rocket Kent Farrington, who shaved over two seconds off the time to beat and crossed the line with Toulaya in 34.77.

This first place was his sixth victory at the Trophée de Genève. Unbelievable! ʺI ride very fast horses and I'm really excited to see how far we can go with this incredible nine-year-old mare, who is gaining experience at this level and was just great tonight. The other riders were also very fast. Julien Épaillard in particular is always incredibly fast, even tonight despite his mistake. I think the secret lies in each rider's strategy, depending on which horses they want to ride in the Grand Prix and which not. For my part, I will see how it goes from day to day. It's always a dream to win here in Geneva. Sometimes people ask me if I don't want to go on holiday, but I'm riding incredible horses, travelling around the world with my friends and doing a sport I love. I'm living a dreamʺ, he said after the price giving ceremony.

On Thursday, Luxembourg's Victor Bettendorf had already won the first two CSI 5* competitions, first with Big Star des Forêts in the Prix Radio Lac, then with Astuce de la Roque in the Prix Swiss Wine Genève. The Prix Defender, a 1.40m showjumping competition for riders under 25, was won by the Liechtenstein rider, Jennifer Hochstadter, by more than two seconds from the American rider, Alexandra Worthington, on Tinka's Hero Z, the former horse of the French rider, Simone Delestre.