Press release from Mediterranean Equestrian Tour 

The third and last week of Spring MET II 2024 at Centro Ecuestre Oliva Nova in Spain came to an end with a Belgian victory in Sunday’s CSI3* 1.50m Grand Prix presented by CHG – Constucciones Hispano Germanas S.A. 

Eight horse-and-rider-combinations out of the 52 participants cleared the first-round track set by the Swiss course designer Gerard Lachat and joined the deciding jump-off, where Belgium’s Jérôme Guery and Careca LS Elite (Carusso LS La Silla x Rebozo La Silla) were the fastest, stopping the clock on 35.56 seconds – taking the win ahead of Marlon Modolo Zanotelli (BRA) and Heureuse Nouvelle WH (Cardento 933 x Indoctro) who had to settle for second with their time of 35.71. 

“Like every show here, the last Grand Prix of the week is always a little bit bigger,” Guery commented afterwards. “It was a serious class and we had a few very good horses and riders in it. The course was technical and delicate, it was really a class for the riders; we had to ride properly, the triple was really delicate, the time was tight but not too short. It was a nice class and we can see that in the eight clear rounds; that is a good number.” 

“I bought him at the end of last year,” Guery said about his ride, the 13-year-old Careca. “The plan was to come to Oliva to try and make a connection with him. In the beginning, it was not so simple; I am a different type of rider than his previous one and we had a few misunderstandings. However, last week I felt like we started to become a couple and I feel like we had a click together. I'm really, really happy because he was amazing today, and he was really with me. Marlon was really, really fast and I was not sure that I could beat him, but I tried and my horse listened to me perfectly.” 

“For me, Oliva is for the moment the best place in Europe to produce horses,” Guery – who is a familiar face at Centro Ecuestre Oliva Nova – said about the venue. “That's why I'm coming here every year at the beginning of the year. I come here with the new horses and young horses, to produce them for the season. It's the perfect place to try and understand new horses and find a connection with them; you have different arenas and a nice facility. I also have Quel Homme with me, for him Oliva is a super place to recover and to restart slowly. And, you can go to the beach! I really like to start my season in Oliva.” 

Harry Charles (GBR) and Balou du Reventon (Cornet Obolensky x Continue) took the third place after clocking a time of 36.47 seconds, while Joseph Clayton (GBR) and Commissaire S (Comme Il Faut x Polydor) finished fourth in 37.20 and Philip Houston (GER) aboard Sandros S Bella (Sandro Boy x Chacco-Blue) fifth in 38.01. 

Spring MET 2024 continues with the third edition on March 5, which runs until March 24 and is followed by Spring MET IV in April.