A british victory as Guy Williams wins his third initational Grand Prix here at the Sunshine Tour riding Depardieu Van’t Kiezelh

Press release – This is the third time that the well known British rider Guy Williams, has won the Invitational GP here at the Sunshine Tour. His last wins were in 2015 and 2009 but today must be one of the most spectacular jump offs the Invitational has seen.

There were eight riders in the jump off after a demanding first round. The jump off course was twisty and the long gallop to the last fence was one of the key places to gain time. Guy and Depardieu Van’t Kiezels (a 14yr old, Belgium WB, by V Thunder Van de Zuu / M. Quinta / V. Latanoold) set the time to beat, an incredible 41.28 sec. Guy Williams was extremely happy with this win and also delighted with his win yesterday on Casper de Muze in the Small GP. He told us after this GP; ‘This has been an incredible week, winning two of the most important classes. It is also the third time I have won the Invitational GP here, and the Sunshine Tour is a very special event for me. It is a Tour that I really enjoy and I feel very at home here’.
We hope to see you back next year!

Despite going early in the jump off, not one of the other competitors could beat this time with a clear round. In a very accurately ridden and extremely fast round, Fabienne Daigneux-Lange just slid into second in 41.41 sec on her wonderful horse, Venue D’Fees Des Hazall. The very last to go in the jump off was Dermott Lennon with Loughview Lou Lou, and this pair had a very good attempt at the time but finally ended up in third with 42.75 sec. Virginie Thonon on Tristan Horta Z continued her success here at the tour, by a super clear, taking fourth in 43.05 sec and the German rider Michael Viehweg with Lord of Pezi took fifth place in 43.54 sec. All in all, a very fast class, showcasing the top riders here at the tour this year.

The Invitational Medium Tour, also had a British winner, with a beautifully neat and fast clear in the jump off from Spencer Roe. Riding the 11 yr old, Chaccomo Agostini who he has ridden since he was 8yrs old (Chacco-Blue / Jessica IV / Acord II), the pair sailed round the 1.45m class built by the international Italian course designer Uliano Vezzani. In his interview, Spencer told us that; ‘when I walked the course I saw it was very complex but later we saw a lot of riders go clear and into the jump off, demonstrating the high class of the competitors here at theTour’. Spencer also told us that he had been riding Chaccomo Agostini for three years and he hopes to continue for many more, as he has some great results with the horse and they continue to improve as a team.
In second place was the Portuguese rider Marina Frutuoso with Cantano in a very fast clear round. In third was the Spanish rider, Otti Verdú riding Top Lulu (who also took third in the Invitational Small Tour). In fourth was Helmut Schönstetter for Germany riding Jack Van’t Kattenheye and in fifth for Ireland was Sophie Dalm with Remake Lande.

Invitational Small Tour was also claimed by another British rider, this time Abbe Burchmore-Eames on Castianeira. This Dutch mare is 10 yrs old and by Lupicor / Wajoutie / Casco. She took the win from the ten riders through to an amazingly fast jump off, with a round of just 29.96 sec. After the class she told us: ‘This is a very small mare but she jumps clear and fast, which really suited today’s course. There were only ten horses in the jump off and we knew we would have to go extremely fast in order to win, and so we did!’
In second was another British rider, Eleanor Hall Mcateer on Dazzle II in 31.32 sec and for a while it looked as if this would be the winning time. In third was Otti Verdú the time on Twiggy KA in 34.35 sec. The Rider from Jordan Ra’ad Hani Naser on  Centorito was fourth and the Peruvian rider Carlos Merino on Ofelia Te Quiero was fifth.

Last but not least, the Czech rider who has had a brilliant Sunshine Tour, Emma Augier de Moussac riding Copia was the clear winner of the Invitational Ladies Class. Two British riders took second and third, Jodie Hall Mcateer on Colette in a very fast round and Millie Allen on Balou Star. The Swedish rider Jennifer Jonsson on Qlara was fourth and another British rider, Georgina Crumley on Moon Zappa took fifth!

And so ends the 23rd Sunshine Tour. It has been the biggest so far with over 1,750 horses attending over the five weeks and a total of 1,150,000 euros of prize money has been won.
The organisers of this important event are very pleased overall with the Tour this year. Teresa Blázquez, the director of The Sunshine Tour told us,‘The increase in the number of classes available to riders, by the addition of the new Medium Tour, has worked really well. It has allowed the horses here to compete in appropriate classes and for the riders to adapt each week and enter them into the levels required to improve their training and development. It has also allowed us to prevent there being too many horses at any level or in any class, despite the fact that there were more entires than ever before. There have also been far more Ranking classes and Qualifiers for the European Championships available to the riders. There has been a great level of competition here from some of the top riders in the world and each week we saw their horses improving and developing as the season got underway. We can count on the best professionals here, covering all the different roles that are essential in the organisation of such a big event. For this I would like to thank each and every one of the great team that we have here at the Sunshine Tour.’

Source: Press release