Eduardo Pereira De Menezes unbeatable in the CSI3* Grand Prix of Knokke Hippique
Yesterday was Grand Prix day at Knokke Hippique, with the CSI1* GP and CSI3* GP taking place, as well as the finals of the CSIYH 6 & 7 year olds. This morning’s CSIYH 7Y presented by Zangersheide was almost won yet again by a member of the Philippaerts family. However, in the end the win went to Matthew Sampson (GBR) and Amarado (v. Diarado), after an incredible ride in the jump off. Jelmer Hoekstra (NED) and Casilo (v. Casall) could also slip ahead of the Belgians into second. The third place went to Nicola Philippaerts (BEL) and Toulayna van het Bloesemhof (v. Toulon).
Grand Prix CSI3*
The main event of the day was the CSI3* Grand Prix presented by Stephex Horsetrucks. After having battled through two qualifying classes, a total of 58 riders started in the Grand Prix. The course was fast and built big, catching many riders out. Even some of the world’s best, such as Lorenzo de Luca (ITA), Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and others could not quite master it and had unlucky faults, meaning they were not qualified for the jump off.
A total of 10 clears went through to fight for the trophy. First in was Carolina Aresu Garcia Obregon (ESP) and Untrepide de Puychety. She rode a great round, but the tricky turn back to fence number three caught her stallion out. Half way through the jump off and there still were no clears. Then the Frenchman Bernard Briand Chevalier rode in on Bond Jamesbond de Hay and delivered what we had all been waiting for – the first clear! But he wasn’t the only one for long. Kent Farrington (USA) flew around the course on his incredibly fast mare Orafina and took the lead.
It was an action-packed class to say the least! Just when it seemed the time set by Kent couldn’t be beaten, Eduardo Pereira De Menezes (BRA) calmly rode into the ring on H5 Chaganus. He had his eyes on the prize and expertly rode his stallion over each obstacle and around each turn. The final black and white SX fence had to be ridden on an open gallop and the Brazilian had no fear pushing hard to cross the finish spectacularly 1 whole second ahead of Farrington.
However, there were still two to go Abdel Saïd (EGY) and Harry Charles (GBR), both known for their speed. The Egyptian could not catch the astonishing leading time, but could the young British rider? He meant business and so did his Chacco-Blue mare, Stardust. He rode each fence with meticulous precision and showed why he had been selected for the 2021 British Olympic team. Over the last fence and one final surge forward. But no! Only 0.29s slower than Eduardo and into second place.
The final three were: Eduardo Pereira De Menezes (BRA) and H5 Chaganus (v. Chacco Blue) , followed by Harry Charles (GBR) and Stardust (v. Chacco Blue) and in third place Kent Farrington (USA) and Orafina (v. For Fashion).
Click here for the results and starting list for today.
Source: Knokke Hippique
