Press release from Oxer Sport

The Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain is in its 5th week of competition, with CSI4* classes running from 14th to the 17th of April. On Thursday, Alberto Márquez Galobardes (ESP) won the biggest class of the day – a 1.50m against the clock – riding Aldo du Manoir (Iowa x Arpege Pierreville *HN). 

Alberto, who is from Madrid and has been competing at the Sunshine Tour since it began in February, snatched the victory with a stunningly fast time of just 69.08 seconds. “The course was very well built, it allowed you to gallop and ride in an open rhythm. This horse is naturally fast and I tried to ride as quickly as I could but it is always difficult to win. With a horse like this, it always makes winning easier and in the end that’s what happened today. I am very happy,” Alberto said.

Santiago Varela, the course designer this week, has been appointed by the International Olympic Committee as Head Course Designer at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. Out of the 74 horse-and-rider combinations in the class, 27 were clear over Varela's course. Matthew Sampson (GBR) finished in second place riding Camall (Casall x Capitol I) to a time of 70.21 seconds, while Emeric George (FRA) riding Rocker D’Ysieux (Crown Z x Royal Feu) finished third in 70.78 seconds.