Andreas Schou (DEN) and the 11-year-old gelding Independent (Diamant de Revel x Careful) took the top honours in Friday's CSIO5* 1.60m Longines Grand Prix under the patronage of Major of Sopot Mr. Jacek Karnowski in Sopot, Poland. 

Thirteen of the fifty horse-and-rider combinations in the Grand Prix jumped clear rounds to move on to the jump-off, where Schou was the fastest with a time of 42.37 seconds. Only 0.4 seconds behind followed Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann (GER) with Messi van't Ruytershof (Plot Blue x For Pleasure), while third place went to Niklaus Schurtenberger (SUI) with Quincassi (Quintero x Cassini I) after stopping the clock at 43.26 seconds. Philipp Weishaupt (GER) and Asathir (Diamant de Semilly x Papillon Rouge) took the fourth place, while Edward Levy (FRA) finished fifth with Catchar Mail (Diamant de Semilly x Calvaro). 

"I'm very happy; it's Independent's first five-star Grand Prix so that makes the win even more special," Schou said to World of Showjumping. "He is bred by my mother-in-law and is the brother of A-Girl that I jumped at the European Championships in Rotterdam in 2019. His last show was in Uggerhalne where he was double clear in the Nations Cup and double clear in the Grand Prix, so he had a good preparation before coming here. He was also here to qualify as a back-up horse for the World Championships in Herning, where I am planning to ride Darc de Lux. On top of this, it is my first five-star Grand Prix win so it's something special!”