Text © World of Showjumping

For the second year in a row, Brazil’s Yuri Mansur and the now 17-year-old gelding Vitiki (Valentino x For Expo) won Saturday night’s CSI5*-W 1.55m Championat City of Basel – the Golden Drum at the 2025-edition of Longines CHI Classics Basel.

Mansur and Vitiki were the first to deliver a clear over the initial track set by Gerard Lachat (SUI) and Gregory Bodo (FRA) and for a while it looked like no one could match them. However, eventually four out of the 47 horse-and-rider combinations at start delivered a clear and joined the deciding jump-off, with Harrie Smolders (NED) on Kaspar R (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Baloubet du Rouet), Pieter Devos (BEL) and Primo DV (Vigo d’Arsouilles x Heartbreaker) and Jos Verlooy (BEL) aboard Jet Run (Chacco-Blue x Robin Z) ready to challenge Mansur.

As the first pair out in the jump-off, Mansur and Vitiki set the standard with a clear in 36.01 seconds – a time that those to come were unable to catch. Smolders and Kaspar R got the closest, taking the runner-up spot in 36.60 seconds, while Devos and Primo DV took third and Verlooy on Jet Run fourth. A single time fault in the first round left Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) and O’Bailey vh Brouwershof N.O.P. (Darco x Contact van de Heffinck) to fifth.

“We call him Wolverine in the stable, because he always finds a way to come back," Mansur told World of Showjumping about Vitiki. "One month ago, with had a really bad accident with the truck, and it is amazing that he is back to winning only a month later."

Speaking about the course, Mansur said: "Already yesterday, when I walked the course for the big class, I thought it was very tough but in the end we had a lot of clears. I knew that Lachat and Bodo would do something even tougher for tonight, and I was right – for a moment I thought there would not be other clears."

"In the last months I have tried to analyze my jump-offs and have tried to learn to go faster," Mansur explained about his strategy for the jump-off. "I didn’t have so much experience as a kid, so I have been missing some points, some details and I have been working on them. This was probably my best jump-off ever because I did not risk too much and could still stick to my plan. Therefore, I am even happier for this victory; it was payback for the work I have been doing."