Pieter Devos (BEL) and the 9-year-old mare Claire Z (Clearway x Coronado) secured the victory in Sunday’s CSIO5* € 153,700 Longines Cup of the City of Barcelona.
“I bought Claire as a 3-year-old with my father-in-law, and my sister-in-law rode her until she was seven. I have always believed in this horse and this is one of the biggest wins of her career so far. I want to take things very slow with her because I think she has all the quality, so now she will do a few smaller classes again and then maybe I bring her to Oslo. I think the course today was really tough, with some really tricky lines and big fences that took a lot of effort from the horses,” commented Devos after his win.
The ten best horse-and-rider combinations out of the 41 in the 1.55m competition proceeded to the second round, six of them on a clean sheet.
William Whitaker (GBR) and the 13-year-old stallion Utamaro D’Ecaussines (Diamant de Semilly x Quidam de Revel) only had a foot in the water in the first round, and carrying four faults they were pair number ten to make their way to the second round. With two more poles down the second time around, Whitaker ended the day with a total of 12 penalties. Andreas Kreuzer (GER) on the 10-year-old gelding Calvilot (Calvaro Z x Quilot) also carried four faults from the first round, and added another four to his score ending with a total of eight penalties.
The best pair for the host nation, Paola Amilibia (ESP) on the 11-year-old gelding Gaudi (Ogano Sitte x Calvaro F.C.), also carried four penalties from the first round but seeing the first fence fall in the second round and exceeding the time allowed she finished on a total of nine penalties. Eric Lamaze (CAN) on the 11-year-old gelding Chacco Kid (Chacco Blue x Come on) carried one time fault only from the first round and picked two more in the second round, ending with three penalties in total to take over the lead.
Pieter Devos and Claire Z were one of the six combinations that cleared the first round and another flawless performance in the second round with a time of 50,66 seconds set the standard for the rest to follow.
Jerome Guery (BEL) on the 11-year-old stallion Garfield de Tiji Des Templiers (Quasimodo Z x Goldspring de Lauzelle) set out to chase Devos’ time but had two poles down along the way. Aniek Poels (NED) on the 11-year-old stallion Barry White 3 (Twisther x Animo) did a steady round with one fence down in 56,44 seconds, while Pedro Veniss (BRA) on the 13-year-old stallion Quabri de L’Isle (Kannan x Socrate de Chivre) paid the penalty for a tight turn seeing a pole fall in a time of 50,27 seconds. Bertram Allen (IRL) on the 13-year-old mare Molly Malone V (Kannan x Cavalier) gave it his best shot, clocking the quick time of 49,43 seconds – but sadly had one down in the chase.
Last to go was Kevin Staut (FRA) and the 11-year-old stallion Silver Deux de Virton HDC (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Heartbreaker). The two were the only other combination to produce a double clear, and with a time of 51,74 seconds they took the runner-up position, pushing Lamaze into third, Allen to fourth and Veniss to fifth spot.
Sunday’s first five-star class, the 1.45m Negrita Cup, went to Yuri Mansur (BRA). Riding the 10-year-old gelding Inferno (Incolor x Italic Des Salines), Mansur clocked the winning time of 60,11 seconds. Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE) on the 9-year-old gelding Oak Grove’s Carlyle (Casall x Corrado I) placed second with a time of 60,16 seconds and Douglas Lindelöw (SWE) on the 9-year-old stallion Amrod (Amaretto IV Dz x Cellestial) took the third spot with a time of 61,92 seconds.
Text and picture © World of Showjumping by Nanna Nieminen