Eduardo Menezes (BRA) and H5 Elvaro (Calvaro F.C. x Heartbreaker) won Thursday's biggest class at Hubside Jumping in Grimaud, France – the CSI4* 1.45m against the clock counting for the Longines Ranking
Twelve of the 32 horse-and-rider combinations managed to produce clear rounds, and fastest of them all was Menezes and his 12-year-old stallion that stopped the clock at 64.19 seconds. Laura Kraut (USA) and Galliano VM (Ukato x Vincenzo) followed in runner-up position with a time of 65.13 seconds, while third place went to Max Kühner (AUT) on Vancouver Dreams (Valentino x Stakkato) after they crossed the finish line in 65.38 seconds. Benoit Cernin (FRA) on Vitalhorse Cekanane de Ushara (Kannan x Quaprice Boimargot Quincy) finished fourth, while Michel Robert followed in fifth with Emerette (Diarado x Chellano Z).
“I'm of course very happy with this victory with H5 Elvaro. When you come out on top of a class, it's very easy to say that the course was good, but in this case, I think that objectively was the case for the first day. The course invited the horses to jump gently, to start the week,” Menezes commented after his win. “My horse Elvaro is in great shape, he has already won four classes counting for the world ranking this year. He will jump the Grand Prix this week, in addition to this class which he won and which gave him a very good start to his stay in Grimaud.”
“I love Hubside Jumping," Menezes continued. "I came during the launch, and the competition only gets better. Of course, there are all the towns around which are charming, like Saint-Tropez and Grimaud, which I enjoy. The competition is also extraordinary. The warm-up is magnificent, the size of the ring is beautiful: it's a great place for the horses, to work. "