On the second day of the Longines Versilia Horse Show, presented by Giorgio Armani in Lido di Camaiore, Germany and Belgium dominated the competition.
David Will of Germany and Jérôme Guery of Belgium made their mark in two categories of the CSI5* competition programme.
In the speed class presented by INTERMODALTRASPORTI, which closed the day, David Will and Xixo Borgia delivered a flawless and lightning-fast performance. The German rider’s time of 57.87 seconds was unmatched by his closest rivals. Of these, only his compatriot Richard Vogel attempted to catch him with Phenyo van het Keysersbos, but eventually finished almost a second and a half behind (0:59.22).
Third place went to Belgian rider Pieter Devos with Jarina J (0:59.36), while the top five also included French rider Roger-Yves Bost with Equine America Ballerine du Vilpion (0:60.65) and Italian rider Riccardo Pisani with Chacco’s Lawito PS (0:61.72).
Earlier, the LONGINES STAKES, a Winning Round class (150 h.) of the CSI5*, was decided by hundredths of a second.
Jérôme Guery aboard Killer Queen was the best of the 53 starters, 15 of whom qualified for the second decisive round. The Belgian rider completed the course in 40.29 seconds, beating a highly competitive field that included the German riders Christian Ahlmann on Sheeran WL (0; 40.98), whose father is the legendary Codex One, and Sophie Hinners on Iron Dames Combella (0; 41.07). Other top performers included Pieter Devos in fourth place on Panamarenka van den Blauwaert (0;41.31) and Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs in fifth place on Falcon du Toultia Z (0;42.49).
Meanwhile, in the other international categories of the CSI2*, the Italian national anthem was played following the victory of the 14-year-old Beatrice Palumbo from Livorno, who, riding Casarinta Blue PS, won the jump-off race presented by COMUNE DI CAMAIORE. The special two-phases class presented by ALIS was won by the Saudi rider Abdulrahman Alrajhi on Kandide Chavannaise.
Click HERE for the full LVHSGA programme
Click HERE for starting list and results
The programme for Saturday 8 May, is as follows:
With the final two days of competition, the Longines Versilia Horse Show presented by Giorgio Armani continues its sporting programme. Saturday’s schedule of the CSI2* includes two classes: an against the clock class (130 cm) presented by Veronafiere and the Grand Prix (145 cm) presented by Kask.
The CSI5* features three competitions, two of which are high-level: a speed class (150 cm) presented by Giorgio Armani and the ‘Small Grand Prix with fences at 1.55 metres and a two-round class presented by AB Yacht. The third competition, closing the day, is accumulator class (145 cm), presented by Enel.
There are also two competitions from the national circuit: the second decisive class of the Italian Champions Tour for the PRO circuit, presented by Cavalleria Toscana, and the opening round of the MASAF Master Cavallo Sella Italiano 7-year-old.
ph. LVHSGA / S.Grasso