Third day filled with adrenaline in Madrid Horse Week

Press release | Showjumping –November 26, 2016. Saturday at IV Madrid Horse Week has been marked by the final of the first JUMPINGCLASH CHALLENGE of history, won by the Swiss Beat Mändli. Maikel van der Vleuten won the ESTRELLA DAMM Trophy at the last moment, while the 6-bar test, the PEDRO DEL HIERRO Trophy, ended with a triple draw. Gonzalo Añón in the Jump & Drive MITSUBISHI Trophy, Markus Beerbaum in the HOLA Trophy, Emilie Conter in the MHW Trophy and Rikke Svane in the CDI4 * ABC Trophy, were other protagonists of the day.

Of the most anticipated tests was the JUMPINGCLASH CHALLENGE, which began with the quarter finals, the first face-to-face confrontations of the day, in which the head of series and Teresa Blázquez-Abascal, being the only Challenger that managed to qualify herself in the Round of 16, would try to qualify themselves to reach the final. The test was a complete success, attracting a large number of spectators, who have lived intensely each of the clashes.

Jérôme Guery, riding Alicante, and Beat Mändli with Dsarie, were in charge of opening the quarterfinals, being Beat Mändli the winner of the confrontation, in a time of 56.48 seconds, thus passing to the next round. Lillie Keenan beat her compatriot Emily Moffit, quialifying herself for the semifinals, along with Markus Beerbaum, who previously defeated Portuguese Luis Sabino Gonçalves with a time of 53.74 seconds, placing himself as the favorite of the event. And against all odds, the only Challenger of the test, the Spanish Teresa Blázquez-Abascal, riding Carola and with a time of 54.43 seconds, defeating the English Jessica Mendoza in her first match of the day.

In the semifinals, the Swiss and the German made a spectacular course in which you could feel the tension of the confrontation, although finally Beat Mändli, in a time of 44.87 seconds, managed to beat by only two seconds the time of Markus Beerbaum. Unfortunately, the hope of seeing a Challenger seizing victory in the first JUMPINGCLASH CHALLENGE of history collapsed when Teresa Blázquez-Abascal lost in the last second against Lillie Keenan, leaving the two seedings for the final showdown.

After a few minutes of anticipation, the final of the JUMPINGCLASH CHALLENGE began. Beat Mändli came out first, making an exceptional course in a time of 40.73 seconds, and shortly after was crowned champion of the test when Lillie Keenan knocked down one of the first fences of the course.

The contest CSI5* Estrella Damm Trophy, had a height of 1.50m. The first round was highlighted by a complicated course and very tight time, which meant that only 13 riders of the 43 who debuted finished the test without faults, passing immediately to the next round.

Among these riders, there were names such as the Italian Lorenzo de Luca, fifth in the international ranking; Ben Maher, the champion of the CSI5 * UAX Trophy that was disputed the day before; Ludger Beerbaum or Edwina Tops-Alexander, second and third, respectively, in the same trophy. Unfortunately, no Spaniard was able to qualify for the playoff, with Gonzalo Añón Suárez, who has finished in position 22, the top-ranked.

Finally, the victory was for Maikel van der Vleuten, riding to VDL Groep Quatro, binomial that was second in the small test of the CSI5* Trophy MITSUBISHI, with a spectacular time of 33.17 seconds, beating at the last moment on the Italian Lorenzo de Luca which made a time of 33.44 seconds riding Halifax van het Kluizebos. Third was Ludger Beerbaum with Chiara.

The 6 bars, the Trophy PEDRO DEL HIERRO is one of the most impressive of the event, consists of a small number of obstacles that the riders have to be able to jump without fail. The sleeves are happening quickly, while the number of participants decreases progressively as the obstacles rise in height. The test has been full of intrigue, although there was no clear winner, as the last 3 participants knocked down the last fence of 2.00m, in the fourth round. Last year’s winning team, Luca Maria Moneta and Neptune Brecourt, who looked set to win for the second consecutive year, joined fellow Mathieu Billot, riding Saphir Des Chayottes, and Yuri Mansur with Quartz de la Lande. All Spaniards were eliminated in the second round, very close of passing to the next round was Luis Fernánder Gil Furnier, that knocked down the obstacle of 1.60m although managed to pass clean the 1.90m one.

The Jump & Drive MITSUBISHI Trophy tested the skills of the riders not only on top of the horse, but also driving the new MITSUBISH OUTLANDER. The test consisted of two courses: one of obstacles on horseback and another one full of closed turns and drifts by car. The Spanish Gonzalo Anon Suarez, riding Tobias in the first part of the tour, showed us his driving skills, proclaiming himself the undisputed winner of this event in a spectacular time of 66.15 seconds. Second was the Portuguese Mario Wilson Fernandes with Joly Coeur van het Kriekenhof, in a time of 71.62 seconds. Following him closely, David Uson Olaso was placed third in a time of 71.88 seconds.

The small test of the CSI2* , the HOLA Trophy, with a height 1.45m, was disputed under the table Jump Off. The first round had a course extended to the summit of its technical difficulty and a very tight time, which meant that only 5 of the 42 riders were able to finish without fail, with Otti Verdú and Álvaro Díaz García being the only Spaniards who made it to the next round. The winner of the tiebreaker was Markus Beerbaum riding Charmed, in a time of 40.24 seconds. He was followed very closely by the Portuguese Luis Sabino Goncalves riding to Filou Egyptian Empire, binomial that was positioned second in the IFEMA Trophy, which could not beat the winner by just three hundredths of a second. Third was the Spanish winner of the IFEMA Trophy that was played yesterday, Álvaro Díaz García, riding to Bacentus, in a time of 42.55 seconds. The young rider, Otti Verdú, who yesterday got two podiums, fought to the end, finishing the course with 4 points in a time of 41.08 seconds.

The winner of the CSI2*, MHW Trophy, was the Belgian Emilie Conter, riding Cesanna, binomial that does nothing more than to accumulate podiums, being third on Thursday in the Ecuestre Trophy and second yesterday in this same trophy, with a perfect course in an unbeatable time of 55.10 seconds. 7 of the 10 best riders of the test were Spanish, being second Diana Marsá-Lafarge, riding Andi D Emiralia, in a time of 58.71 seconds. Alba Valle Espinedo finished third, riding Danthe RDPS, in a time of 59.80 seconds. The next Spaniards in the standings were Manuel Añón Suárez and Jacobo Ussia de Garay, who were fourth and fifth respectively.

The first dressage test of the event was the. Of the top 10 riders, 6 were Spanish, being the Olympic Beatriz Ferrer-Salat the best classified. Denish Rikke Svane, riding Finckenstein TSF and with a score of 72.920%, and Belgian Isabelle Steidle with Long Drink, snatched the first and second position, respectively, to the Olympic Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, which finished third riding Sir Radjah with a score of 70.400%.

The night ended with the show of “stand-up” dressage of Lorenzo de Camargue, who performed the show on the back of two horses, accompanied by up to 8 others.

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