Brazilian rider Stephan de Freitas Barcha and the 11-year-old mare Aliana (Mill Reef VDL x Monaco) won the first CSI2* 1.45 Grand Prix of the 2016 Vilamoura Atlantic Tour.

Out of the 34 riders in the class, Stephan de Freitas Barcha was one of the 11 that moved on to the jump-off. With a time of 36.80 seconds, the Brazilian rider took a convincing victory.

"The fact that I was the last of the jump-off allowed for a clear view of what was going on and what was necessary to be done," stated the 26-year-old rider after the competition counting for the FEI Longines Ranking.

Second place went to Germany’s Andreas Benner riding Trebox Acorada (Acorado I x Lands River) with a time of 37.29 seconds, and he was followed by his compatriot Marc Bettinger aboard Barino (Larino x N-Aldato) who stopped the clock at 37.86 seconds.

At the Costa del Sol Tour in Mijas it was Dutch rider Sanne Thijssen that won the CSI2* 1.45 Grand Prix. Aboard Con Quidam (Quinar x Cardino), the daughter of Leon Thijssen rode the fastest jump-off of the class which saw ten of its fourteen riders going clear yet again. 

With 1.29 seconds down to Denmark’s Andreas Schou and Allstar (Oklund x Peter Pan), Thijssen was by far the fastest against the clock. Third place went to Great Britain’s Anna Edwards on Blazer B (Tombola x Lord Z).