Victor Bettendorf Wins Duel against Julien Épaillard at the Longines Deauville Classic CSI 4*

Deauville, France – August 14, 2026 – Victor Bettendorf (LUX) and the ever-competitive Encore Toi du Linon claimed another international success this afternoon in the €57,600 Institut Esthederm Prize CSI 4* at the Longines Deauville Classic CSI 4*, held at the Pôle International du Cheval Longines – Deauville. In this 1.50m class, the Luxembourgeoise and his Selle Français mare got the better of Julien Épaillard (FRA) and Donatello d’Auge. Riding for Belgium and setting off second of the eighty-four starters, Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele (BEL) completed the top three aboard Lotti Blue Z.

After finishing fourth in a 1.50m class on Thursday, the pairing of Luxembourg’s Victor Bettendorf and Encore Toi du Linon claimed another international victory on Friday afternoon in the feature class of the day at the Longines Deauville Classic CSI 4*, organised by the GrandPrix Events teams. In this 1.50m competition counting towards the riders’ world ranking and run under the colours of Institut Esthederm, the rider and his Selle Français mare delivered the fastest clear round in 65.08, despite being fourteenth into the arena with seventy more pairs still to come. In the end, no combination managed to go faster, with or without a fault.

At that point, Belgium’s Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele (BEL), who had stopped the clock in 66.96 seconds with Lotti Blue, held second place. He eventually had to settle for third after Julien Épaillard‘s (FRA) attempt to take the lead with his Donatello d’Auge, who is making a fruitful return to competition following a sixth place in the Grand Prix of the Saint-Lô CSI 3* last Sunday. The Frenchman, who will represent France at the World Show Jumping Championships in Aachen from Wednesday with Fringan de Vesquerie, could not quite match the time and slotted into second place in 65.93 seconds.

Ever competitive, Marc Dilasser (FRA) finished fourth: aboard Arioto du Gèvres, his partner at the Longines World Cup Final in Fort Worth, the Normandy rider crossed the line in 67.15. seconds.

“When Encore Toi du Linon steps into the lorry, I am fairly sure the weekend will go well!”, said Victor Bettendorf. The Luxembourger and his Kannan daughter recorded their thirteenth international victory, and their fourth of 2026. Of the twenty-three international starts the pair have made since January, they have finished in the top 10 thirteen times. As a reminder, the former rider of Mr. Tac and the twelve-year-old bay mare took second place in the 1.60m non-World Cup Grand Prix in Bordeaux and, above all, won the Sunday Grand Prix of the Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping last June.

“Encore Toi du Linon is a very competitive and very careful mare, which makes my job a little easier. I never really fear a fault; I simply pay attention to my line. I love riding her, and when she steps into the lorry, I am fairly sure the weekend will go well! She is a real pleasure to ride,” the winner explained after the prize-giving, before adding: “I liked yesterday’s course and I also really liked today’s,” both designed by Switzerland’s Gérard Lachat. “You always appreciate courses more when good results come with them, but I found the track quite interesting, with risks to take or, on the contrary, to leave alone. In the end, there were not that many clear rounds (nineteen, editor’s note), and I think the course designer did a great job.”

Final Results – €57,600 Institut Esthederm Prize CSI 4*

1) Victor Bettendorf (LUX) & Encore Toi du Linon – 0 – 65.08

2) Julien Epaillard (FRA) & Donatello d’Auge – 0 – 65.93

3) Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele (BEL) & Lotti Blue Z – 0 – 66.96

Source: Press Release by Clara Heurteux (edited) for Grand Prix Events

Photo: © Grand Prix Events / Pixels Events

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