The seventh week of Vilamoura Champions Tour came to an end on Thursday afternoon with the CSIO3* 1.50m Fransisco Moura in Memoriam Grand Prix. Out of the 59 participants, a total of 20 horse-and-rider combinations cleared the first round and joined the deciding jump-off. Belgium's Gregory Wathelet and Nevados S (Calvados Z x Romualdo) took home the win with a time of 35.33 seconds in the jump-off, while in-form Richard Vogel (GER) on Floyo VDL (Baltic VDL x Contender) took the runner-up position with a time of 35.96. Vogel's teammate David Will placed third with C Vier 2 (Cardento 933 x Concorde), while Eduardo Pereira De Menezes (BRA) on H5 Chaganus (Chacco-Blue x Carthago) took the fourth place and Jack Whitaker (GBR) on Valmy de la Lande (Mylord Carthago*HN x Starter) fifth. 

"It was a nice, fair Grand Prix," the happy winner commented to World of Showjumping. "I have been here for seven weeks and during this time we had a few Grand Prix classes that perhaps were more complicated – therefore we had 20 clears today. The jump-off was fast, and as I was starting in the end, I could see what the others did. I know my horse can be very fast, but I also knew I had to take risks – but it is maybe a bit easier to take risks with a horse like Nevados." 

"Nevados is in good shape," Wathelet continued about his winning ride. "He did not jump since September, and originally my plan was to bring him here to do some smaller classes to get him ready for the bigger shows that were meant to take place in December.  But with all the cancellations, I decided to do one big class now and then give him a break. With the current situation, it is hard to plan with the best horses – we should be ready, but we can't be ready for nothing. It is challenging to find a compromise, and we were all hoping some bigger shows would still happen before the end of the year. However, it is the same for everyone." 

"We have been lucky to be here, it has been nice to compete and still feel the show atmosphere," Wathelet said about his time in Vilamoura. "Since there haven't been so many other shows going on, the level of competition here has been very high – higher than usual. Personally, I like to come here – this is a friendly place with a good ground."