17/07/2010

Frenchman Olivier Robert Safray with Nefertiti beat Spanish Eduardo Alvarez Aznar and Revel Rico, in the second round triumphing in the most important competition of the International Show Jumping of Santander.

The atmosphere in the camp of La Magdalena was sensational this evening, with the stands and the village full of people. All to encourage the forty-eight pairs participating in the Grand Prix Hon. Santander City Council Trophy Iberia Airlines of Spain.

The most important competition of the CSI of Santander was held in a two-phase round and their courses were designed by Alexander Ancín, who posed a serious plot to 1.45 m. high, only eleven ensembles were able to overcome in a clear round. Altogether, together with the Italian Giulia Martinengo who accumulated four points with Caya Z, qualified for the second round.

The Valencian Daniel Martínez Ricart, with Lady Godiva, was the first to complete the course in a clear round time that seemed pretty hard to beat: 55.97 seconds. Ricart managed to maintain his dominance until Eduardo Alvarez Aznar with Revel Rico jumped into the arena. The son of legendary jockey Luis Alvarez Cervera, winner of the Grand Prix of Santander in 2004, wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father with a brilliant course, with which he broke Ricart’s time in several hundredths.

It seemed then that he would get the sixth victory for the Spanish team of the Show-Jumping, but the penultimate rider to participate, Olivier Robert was able to grind the clock. The Frenchman, riding a spectacular Safari Nefertiti, managed to improve by nearly two seconds off Alvarez Aznar’s time mark and win the competition.

Thus, the riders who came to the arena to receive the applause of the public were also the ones who completed their courses in a clear round: Oliver Robert (1st), Eduardo Alvarez Aznar (2nd) and Daniel Martínez Ricart (3rd), followed by Primito Nieves (4th) and Carlos Catalan (5th), who rode Grandia 9 and Carlos, respectively.

RESULTS