Holly Smith wins the CSI 3* 1.50m Sunshine Tour Grand Prix
Sunday 08 March 2020
Sunshine Tour CSI 3* Grand Prix, Vejer de la Frontera, Spain
It was a tremendous win by Holly Smith with the consistent 11 year-old bay gelding Hearts Destiny, whom she owns jointly with TJ Hall Ltd, which saw her head a strong field of sixty starters that had come forward.
Quarter of the field jumped clear in the first round to see a fifteen strong jump-off take place with everyone putting in incredibly fast rounds in a bid to claim the title. It was Holly that managed to deliver a performance that others just couldn’t touch when she posted a clear in a time of 39.25 seconds to claim pole position ahead of Brazilian rider Pedro Veniss who was the only other rider to stop the clock under the 40 second barrier.
Italy took 3rd in the form of Alberto Zorzi whilst Anthony Condon took 4th for Ireland. A total of eleven managed a jump-off clear making it an extremely exciting and hard fought competition to watch and it was all the more poignant to see Holly claim the win on International Women's Day.
Fellow Brit James Wilson also finished in the line-up in 6th place with a double clear on Susan Larson’s 12 year-old mare Imagine de Muze whilst Joe Stockdale with Don Diego de Plata finished 10th having also posted a double clear.
For full results https://bit.ly/39xA9rW
Other European Tour Grand Prix Results
There were also solid placings for British riders in some of the other European Grand Prix competitions taking place this afternoon.
The CSI 3* Vilamoura Grand Prix in Portugal saw Adrian Whiteway with Cooley Network and Jackson Reed Stephenson with Cool Cash finish in 3rd and 4th place respectively behind home rider Martim Portela de Morais with Inco van den Bisschop who took the win and Italy’s Piergiorgio Bucco who took 2nd. Results https://bit.ly/2VR5Vfs
The CSI 3* 1.50m Stutteri Ask Grand Prix in Herning, Denmark saw Alex Gill with Grand Slam VDL finish 3rd behind Jens Fredricson (SWE) who took the win and Linnea Ericsson-Carey (DEN) . Results https://bit.ly/2TxZEDD
Mark Armstrong also kept the Brits in the line-up when he finished 3rd in the CSI 3* Grand Prix of Valencia, having jumped double clear with Juharah to claim his spot behind Aurelien Lery (FRA) and Alex Duffy (IRL) who took the top two spots. Results https://bit.ly/2TC4uQB
