As last to go, Emily Moffitt (USA) snatched the win in Friday’s CSI2* 1.45m Top Series Miraval Prize worth 24 600 Euro.

The competition went over two rounds, with the thirteen best riders from the first one moving on to the second – where the flood lights had been turned on to create an amazing atmosphere for one of the two feature classes of the night.

The three first riders in the ring for round two – Ibrahim Hani Bisharat (JOR), James Davenport (GBR) and Karina Aziz (CAN) – all had poles down and left the door open for those following them.

As fourth to go, Karel Cox (BEL) put pressure on those to come with a fast clear round on Nicole – a horse the Belgian rider borrowed from his fiancée Marit Skollerud for this event. The time to beat was 42.42 seconds, and the heat was on.

Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) followed up with another clear round on his new ride Hermes de Mariposa (Canturo x Power Light), crossing the finish line on a time of 43.98 seconds. Gilles Thomas (BEL) and Christophe Vanderhasselt (BEL) both had a rail each, while Chris Chugg (AUS) chased Cox’s time to slot into temporary second on Cera Cassiago (Cassini I x Carthago).

Jesper Romp (NED) and Jessica Mendoza (GBR) could not keep a clean sheet, although the latter had the fastest time of the day to eventually finish fifth. When Santiago Lambre’s (MEX) rein broke, and Gregory Cottard (FRA) had two down it was looking more and more like the competition would end with a home win for Cox.

However, 18-year-old Emily Moffitt on the impressive 9-year-old stallion Hilfiger van de Olmenhoeve (Dulf van den Bisschop x Querlybet Hero) wanted it different. The American rider went all in, and got a great turn back to the third last upright before she cleared the combination and then closed off with a race to the final oxer – securing the win in the Miraval Prize with a convincing margin of 1.48 seconds. 

Source: Press release from Brussels Stephex Masters // Picture © Scoopdyga