Irish riders fly high in Gijón, but Spain fights back at home

Taking place this year from August 29–September 2 at the Hipódromo Municipal de Las Mestas, Gijón’s historic equestrian event offered a total of €414,970 in prize money to the 84 riders competing at the 5* level, and in the end the Emerald Isle’s green, white and orange flag would regularly be raised above the show venue. That was the case, for example, for Thursday’s 1.50m class, in which Paul Kennedy, partnered with his mare Cartown Danger Mouse, finished on top of a podium rounded out by Spanish star Sergio Alvarez Moya and British up-and-comer Harry Charles.

In Saturday’s 1.60m showdown, Kennedy’s compatriot Billy Twomey, on Kimba Flamenco, finished first among 65 riders, pocketing €30,426. Earlier, Richard Howley and Cruising Star won the 1.40m class, and Howley followed that up on Sunday with another mount, Dolores, claiming victory in the Grand Prix of Gijón and adding another €47,850 to his prize money haul. For his efforts, Howley was also named Best Athlete of the CSIO. 

In  Friday’s 1.60m Nations Cup Team competition, however, it was the home nation’s red and yellow flag in the spotlight after the Spanish squad of Manuel Fernandez Saro, Mikel Aizpurua Quiroga, Laura Roquet Puignero, and Eduardo Alvarez Aznar came out on top of a three-country jump-off with Italy (second) and the Netherlands (third). In this class, the Irish were fourth out of the 10 nations participating. The global Longines FEI Nations Cup Jumping Final, part of the CSIO 5* of Barcelona, will take place from October 5–7 at that city’s Real Polo Club. And the countries currently qualified for the Barcelona Final are:

Belgium; Ireland; Switzerland; France; The Netherlands; Great Britain; Sweden; Germany (fill-in as Asia quota not filled); Spain (automatically qualified as the home team); Austria; Hungary; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; Qatar; Canada; The United States; Brazil (plus possibly another South American team); (Africa – qualification period still open), and New Zealand.