From press release by Oxer Sport

Czech rider Ales Opatrny went to the top in Sunday’s CSI4* 1.55m Grand Prix sponsored by Junta de Andalucía at the Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain. 

The course was set by Javier Trénor and proved to be less complicated than the riders thought when walking it. This was helped along by a time adjustment at the beginning of the class, with the time allowed being extended to 77sec. “I thought that the last line was going to give the riders more options in striding,” Trénor commented. “However, they rode it really easily in five strides when I thought that by giving them 25.5m to the last fence a few riders would do six strides. I am happy with the results, the horses jumped the course comfortably for such a big track and they did it more easily than I expected.”

Of the thirteen riders in the jump-off, Opatrny was the fastest one when stopping the clock at 38.25 seconds aboard the 9-year-old gelding Forewer (Caruso 279 x Grossadmiral). “He was born and bred at home,” Opatrny told about his horse. “Forewer jumped really well and even though it was not an easy track he did it without any problems. He is a very fast horse”.

Swedish rider Angelie Von Essen and Cochella (Cartani 4 x Lord) took the runner-up spot with a time of 39.65, while third went to Dutch rider Vincent Voorn and Diva (No Limit x Ticallux Verte) in 41.27 seconds. Germany’s Laura Klaphake finished fourth with Bantou Balou (Balou du Rouet x Joker), while Great Britain’s Jodie Hall McAteer ended fifth with Salt’N Peppa (Stolzenberg x Escudo 19).