Success at last for Opatrny with victory at Longines FEI World Cup Arab League Qualifier in Dubai

In doing so Opatrny was posting his first win in over 130 rides since May last year when he won a CSI three star event in Celje, Slovakia.

Opatrny was riding Acovaro, a 10-year-old German-bred gelding not known for his speed, and was achieving perhaps a greater feat, with a first victory for the horse since 2013.

From a strong field of 28 horse and rider combinations, Opatrny and Acovaro combined to complete the course in a winning time of 43.86 seconds.

Ukraine’s Ferenc Szentirmai aboard Quick Diamond was second in 44.20 seconds, with France’s Frederic David on Baloussini taking third place with a time of 46.60 seconds.

The final day of the Dubai Show Jumping Championship opened with the Dh120,000 Longines Accumulator, which was won by Germany’s David Will.

The victory completed a successful weekend for Will as he won the Emirates Airline Two Phase on Thursday and was runner up in the Gulf News Dubai Cup Qualifier on Friday.

The Longines Accumulator is an event that allows competitors to choose the jumps they will attempt. Each of the fences cleared is worth a given amount of points based on difficulty, with the winner decided by the highest point total and fastest time.

A starting field of 30 combinations came forward for this class, with Will, riding the 10-year-old Monodie H, finishing in a time of 52.43 seconds. Ireland’s Marion Hughes took second aboard Laith, coming half a second behind the winner after completing the course in 52.93 seconds to take second. The UAE’s Abdullah Al Marri, who is based at the Emirates Equestrian Centre, secured third with AMS Catch Me in 53.58 seconds.

Italy’s Andre Sakakini won The Longines Speed Stakes in what was also a closely fought class.

From a starting field of 27 competitors, Sakakini rode Carott G to victory in a time of 59.46 seconds. Denmark’s Tina Lund was runner up aboard Wendy B with a time of 59.80, with the UAE’s Sheikh Ali Al Qasimi taking third on Jument Dufee in a time of 62.18.