Yuri Mansur and the 12-year-old mare Miss Blue-Saint Blue Farm (Chacco-Blue x VDL Zirocco Blue) won Sunday’s CSI5* 1.60m GL Events Grand Prix at the 2025-edition of Le Printemps des Sports Équestres in Fontainebleau, France.

“I know I have got something special in her,” Mansur told World of Showjumping about Miss Blue-Saint Blue Farm after their win. “She is the best horse I ever rode.”

As the pathfinders, current world number one Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) and Minute Man (Vigo d’Arsouilles x Montender 2) posted the first clear of the day. In the end, a total of eleven pairs out of the 49 horse-and-rider combinations at start followed suit over Gregory Bodo’s (FRA) first-round track.

As one of two course designers for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Bodo had brought a flair of Versailles to Fontainebleau: A number of fences used at the Olympics – such as the Provence-Champs de Lavande, Notre-Dame, Metropolitain and Le Petit Prince jumps – were featured in the course. Additionally, Santiago Varela (ESP) – Bodo's co-course designer at the Paris Olympics – was the technical delegate in Fontainebleau.

In the jump-off, Mansur stopped the clock on 41.52 seconds – taking the win only fractions ahead of Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Bond Jamesbond de Hay (Diamant de Semilly x Kannan) who had to settle for second with a time of 41.58. Gilles Thomas (BEL) and Ermitage Kalone (Catoki x Kannan) completed the podium in third in 41.67 seconds, followed by Emanuele Gaudiano (ITA) and Chalou’s Love PS (Diablo Blanco x Conterno-Grande) in fourth in 41.77, and Bertram Allen (IRL) aboard Qonquest de Rigo (Fantomas de Muze x indoctro) in fifth in 41.83.

“With this kind of horses and riders, there was no doubt: You just had to go,” Mansur said about his strategy for the jump-off. “I did my best and my horse delivered, but given the level of the riders we were up against, I had to take every risk.”

"There's not much I would change if I had to do this jump-off again now,” the second placed Wathelet said in a press release from Le Printemps des Sports Équestres. “I tried, I gave it my all. Bond Jamesbond was incredible again. It's another extremely close jump-off, like we experienced a few months ago at the Longines Equita Lyon. Back then, I was on the right side of a second, now I'm on the wrong side. But I'm very happy for Yuri, he deserves it and we all fought well. I can only be happy with my horse today. And finally, I think I can speak on behalf of all the riders here: A big thank you to Sylvie Robert for organizing such events. It's a great pleasure for all of us!"

Mansur was full of praise for Le Printemps des Sports Équestres as well. “Sylvie Robert [Editor’s note: the event director] is one of the best organizers in the world in my opinion,” Mansur said. “I love every show she does – and I like to see how she treats her team and how her team fights for her. It is always a pleasure to be at these shows and Fontainebleau is a historical, classic venue – a place where you appreciate to win.”