Already third in last week's CSI4 * Grand Prix at the Hubside Jumping in Grimaud, France, Italy's Emilio Bicocchi and his mare Evita Sg Z (Verdi TN x Codexco) won Friday's 1.50m feature class at the same venue. The pair left home heroes Julien Epaillard on Usual Suspect d'Auge (Jarnac x Papillon Rouge) and Titouan Schumacher with Atome Z (Amadeus Z*Brimbelles x Toulon) behind them, with close to a second in between each rider in the top three in the jump-off.

"Evita has been in great shape for the past two weeks, here at Hubside Jumping," Bicocchi commented. "You could even say that she has been in great shape for a good year, with good performances. I am very happy that we did not have to stay without competitions for too long. Her last competition dates back to the Longines FEI World Cup in Bordeaux where she qualified for the Las Vegas Final. You never know how the horses will react after such a break, but it is going very well."

"The first round of this class was very well built, with difficulties everywhere: the faults spread out and it was a very pleasant course to jump," Bicocchi continued. "In the jump-off, I took many risks. Luckily, Evita is a very, very fast mare. I passed Julien Epaillard who was then in the lead. Generally, with a round like Julien delivered – we are aiming for second place so this victory delights me even more."