Edited press release from Longines EEF Series

Portugal got their 2025 Longines EEF Series campaign off to a flying start when they took a resounding victory in the first CSIO3* 1.50m qualifier of the season which was held in the Belgian town of Lier. Great Britain was second while Ireland took third.
 
Impressive performances from Mario Wilson Fernandes aboard the 10-year-old bay gelding Krachtpatser (Carrera VDL x Animo) and Rodrigo Sampaio Peixoto on the 11-year-old chestnut gelding Orion AS (Baloubet du Rouet x Seidon), who both recorded double clears, and a four and clear from Rodrigo Giesteira Almeida riding Karonia.L (Harley x G-Ramiro Z) ensured Portugal the win on a score of zero with a round to spare. Their fourth team member Duarte Seabra on Dourados 2 (Diarado x Cornet Obolensky) – a pair that competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and who jumped clear in the first round in Lier – weren’t required in the second round as Portugal already had an unassailable lead.
 
“For Portugal [this win] it’s special. We are a small country in Europe and we all worked a lot to get where we are. For sure this is the best ever start on this league for us so we have big hopes for what is coming next,” said Duarte.
 
Chef d’equipe Antonio Frutuoso de Melo added: “This is a special team that I have tried to build. I know them very well. I’m very proud of them and of all the other team members that are here and all the supporters which is very important and to have this fantastic ambiance around us.” 

Great Britain climbed the order from fourth after the first round to finish as runners-up, thanks in part to a double clear from Jodie Hall McAteer with Kingsborough Kasper (Kannan x Revenge). Joining Jodie and the 12-year-old Irish stallion in the team were Harry Charles, who was part of Great Britain’s gold medal-winning team at last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, this time riding the nine-year-old Holsteiner stallion Kannandillo (Kannan x Candillo 3), Harry's sister Sienna with Stardust (Chacco-Blue x Con Air 7) and Robert Murphy aboard Catch-Me Van Berkenbroeck (Cicero Z x Nonstop). 
 
Di Lampard's Great Britain finished on a score of eight, the same score as Michael Blake's Ireland – Billy Twomey on Jumping Jack van de Kalevallei (Kannan x Chin Chin), Niamh McEvoy on Jargon DN (VDL Zirocco Blue x Indoctro), Seamus Hughes Kennedy on ESI Rocky (Stakkato Gold x For Pleasure) and Eoin McMahon on Cornest (Balou du Reventon x Stakkatol) – who rose from seventh at the halfway point to complete the podium in third. 
 

After round one, Portugal was tied for first place with France and Sweden but while the Portuguese maintained their strong form in round two, there was disappointment for the other two nations. Sweden notched up 16 faults to leave them in eventual ninth while France tumbled down the order to 10th after they amassed 24 penalties. The second round caused more problems than the first and double clears around Henk Linders’ (NED) testing track were few and far between. The fourth horse-and-rider combination to achieve the feat of a double clear was Mariano Martinez Bastida (ESP) on Origi Van’t Geyzeven (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve x Heureka), whose fault free performance helped Spain finish fourth just ahead of Germany in fifth.  

Victory for Portugal in the first regional qualifier of the year in the Longines EEF Series puts them at the head of the Region West qualifying table on 100 points ahead of Great Britain on 90 and Ireland with 80.