Press release Sunshine Tour – 129 Young Horses have now qualified for the Finals of the 5, 6 and 7 yr olds which will be held as the climax of 5 weeks of competition at the Sunshine Tour XXII on Wednesday the 16th of March. British rider David Wingrove was the fastest competitor in the first section of the 7 yr old class today. His clear round in 35.20 sec with Excalibur was unbeatable. The Portuguese rider Antonio Frutuoso with Diva of Heritage took 2nd place in 36.43 sec and the Irish rider Dermott Lennon with Murlough Bay was 3rd in 36.57 sec.
In the second section of the 7 yr olds, the Belgian rider Stefan Corten was 1st on Eye Catcher in 31.89 sec. Dutch rider Geert Van Asten with Empire had a time of 34.04 sec and British rider Kayleigh Watts with Fashion V a time of 34.81 sec and they took 2nd and 3rd place.
More than 100 horses competed today in this class with 40 going clear and 43 horses have now qualified for the 7 yr old Final.
The winners in the two 6 yr old sections were British rider Tara McDonald with Fygo Von D’ouwe Grint and Lance Whitehouse with Whitesparke Blanko. Spanish rider Kevin González de Zárate was 2nd and 3rd in the first section of the class riding Nasander Del Pas and Calipso Van Bergd respectively. He was also 4th with Lady de Quijas. In the second section of the 6 yr olds, the Belgian rider Maarten Driessen with Fernando Blue and the British rider Max Routledge with Sandro’s Boy Z took 2nd and 3rd respectively.
There were 126 competitors in this class with 49 having clears. This means that 49 have already qualified for the final of the 6 yr olds.
Three Spanish riders topped the podium in the 5 yr old class, Alfonso Salguero with Docecalles in 1st, 2nd Ari González with Gismo de Pravia and 3rd Carlos Bosch with Comporta de Mies.
There were 74 competitors in this class and 36 finished clear, there are now 38 5 yr olds through to the final.
Tomorrow we continue with the Young Horse classes, this is the penultimate opportunity for them to add another clear before the Finals. We also have the first 3* competition of this week at the Sunshine Tour which will kick off an exciting weekend of jumping and begins at 15:00 in Arena 3, David Broome. Once again this will be a qualifying class for entrance into the Big GP on Sunday.
Source: Press release Sunshine Tour
