FRENCH star Pénélope Leprevost thrilled the home crowd with a turbo-charged patriotic victory in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Cannes last weekend on Ratina, a 10-year-old mare new to that level of the sport.

Leprevost’s army of young fans were ecstatic as she powered across the finish line in an eye-popping 36.86 seconds on, almost a full second ahead of Swedish champion Rolf-Göran Bengtsson on the extraordinary 16-year-old stallion Casall Ask.