The Longines EEF Series CSIO3* Madrid ends with the victory of the Spanish rider Eduardo Álvarez Aznar in the Suzuki Grand Prix on a special day at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. After the victory in the Nations Cup, the rider from Madrid achieved victory in the Suzuki Grand Prix with the veteran “Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot”, the horse that has given him the most success in his sports career and that at 17 years of age has recently returned to competition, after a blank season as a result of injury.
It was feared that “Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot” would not be able to compete again, but he has returned and has done it in a big way, with a spectacular victory. The Spanish rider entered the track in last place and improved the time of the Portuguese Duarte Seabra with “HHS Washington”, until then the leader, by almost 3 seconds. Of the 60 teams that participated in the Suzuki Grand Prix, only seven made zero points on the course and managed to go to the tiebreaker.
In the decisive round, four participants finished again without knockdowns, beating the stopwatch Eduardo Álvarez Aznar with “Rokefeller de Pleville Bois Margot” with a time of 39’82 seconds. The British Karl Robins was third with “Equine América G Camille HBF”, with a time of 42’87. The fourth double zero of the test was that of Frenchman Philippe Leoni with “Uhlan Okkomut” (0-45’63).
With the Suzuki Grand Prix, whose trophy was presented by the president of Suzuki Ibérica, Juan López Frade, concluded the Longines EEF Series CSIO3* Madrid, which has had Madrid’s Eduardo Álvarez Aznar as the main protagonist in the two stellar moments of the competition, the Nations Cup and the Grand Prix.
The second test on Sunday at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid was the Mahou Trophy, disputed over heights of 1’40 meters and in which 47 combinations took part and which was won by the Belgian Bart Clarys with “Geste van de Vihta”. The winning binomial on the first day of the Caser Seguros Trophy, flew again today over the green of the Club de Campo-Villa de Madrid, pulverizing García Roque’s record. The Belgian’s time with his 11-year-old mare was 55’91 seconds, which made him the absolute winner of the test.
The Spanish Ismael García Roque, who started in sixth place on the track, shone again with “O. Ziezo DB”. The rider of the stable directed by Sergio Álvarez Moya and current Champion of Spain established a time of 61’28 seconds that was a reference at the top of the classification for all the participants for a long time. It was necessary to wait until the participant number 44 so that the change in the first position of the test took place and went into the hands of the Belgian.
Third was the Irish Jessica Burke riding “Impulss”, who stayed 28 hundredths of the time of García Roque. Three other Spanish combinations were among the top ten, all of them with zero points: Gerardo Menéndez, who was eighth with “Deus de Teus”, Cayetano Martínez de Irujo, ninth with “Dearest Diamond RS” and Santiago Núñez Riva, tenth with “Donaire of Chaplain”.
The competition of the closing day of the CSIO3* in Madrid began at 10:30 in the morning with the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid Trophy, a test disputed over obstacles of a maximum height of 1’30 meters and which was judged according to the Scale A with stopwatch. Of the 38 participants, 15 completed the course without incurring any penalty, both for knockdowns and time, the fastest being Gerardo Menéndez with “Diamantta DC”. The Asturian rider had caressed the victory in the two previous days, but in both he had committed a demolition that had avoided it. In the end, the third time was the charm and the man from Aviles managed to keep his score to zero and the competitiveness of his 9-year-old mare did the rest to ensure victory with a time of 58’60 seconds.
Next, the young Portuguese Mandy Mendes Costa qualified, who in this way completed a full presence in the trophy deliveries of the contest, since she has been among the best in the 1’30 tests in the three days of competition. Today she was second with “Hurlevent DB”, with a time of 60’61 seconds. The third position went to another Spanish rider, José Fumero, who continues adding classifications with the young gray horse, from Yeguada Villafranca, “Figuier du Roc”. 60’81 seconds was his time.
