All-Spanish victories mark first day of CSI3 Maeza
4 Jul 2025The 2025 edition of the CSI3 Show Jumping Competition, organized by Yeguada Finca Maeza in Sariego, at the heart of Asturias’ Comarca de la Sidra, is officially underway. Riders from 19 countries are taking part, and the event kicked off with three Spanish victories, with Iván Serrano and Hugo Álvarez Amaro emerging as the standout performers.
BMW AUTOSA Trophy
Both riders—Basque native Iván Serrano and Madrid-born Hugo Álvarez Amaro—are part of the five-member team selected by the Royal Spanish Equestrian Federation to represent Spain at the upcoming European Show Jumping Championships next week. And both proved today, at the superb facilities of Yeguada Finca Maeza, that they are heading into the continental event in top form.
Iván Serrano claimed victory in the BMW AUTOSA Trophy, the day's main event, a speed class with a jump-off that featured 48 horse-and-rider combinations tackling fences set at 1.45 meters. Eleven qualified for the deciding round, where the rider from Biscay delivered a lightning-fast clear round aboard Rain Man, the horse he’ll compete with at the European Championships.
Serrano posted another faultless round in the jump-off, stopping the clock at 35.42 seconds. Taking considerable risks, he managed to create a significant gap of nearly three seconds over the second-place finisher, Imma Roquet riding Elba del Maset. Third place went to another Basque rider, Kevin González de Zárate from Vitoria, who completed his round on Chinixen in 38.30 seconds—just four hundredths of a second behind the Catalan rider.
José Luis Fernández Álvarez, president of Grupo Autosa, presented the trophy to the winner, while Christina Bares and Álvaro Arrieta handed out the prizes to the second and third-place riders, respectively.
ARTIEM Trophy
Earlier in the day, the ARTIEM Trophy was contested—a 1.35-meter speed class (Table A against the clock) featuring 89 combinations, with 44 completing the course without penalties. Speed was the decisive factor in this event, which was won by the same rider who had taken victory in the opening class: Hugo Álvarez Amaro, the other standout performer of the day.
The Madrid-born rider clinched the win aboard Casaspezia Kar, the mare he will compete with at the European Championships. A naturally fast horse, she handled the course designed by Javier Trenor with ease, clocking a winning time of 60.11 seconds.
Finishing in second place was local Asturian rider Luis Jesús Escobar, who posted a time of 62.86 seconds with Gangster Montgothier. Third place once again went to Kevin González de Zárate, this time riding Extra Dry, with a time of 63.37 seconds.
Guillermo Díaz Aliaga, Commercial and Operations Director of ARTIEM Hotels, presented the trophy to the winner, accompanied by Christina Bares on behalf of Yeguada Finca Maeza and Álvaro Arrieta, President of Oxer Sport.
ASCOR Trophy
Friday’s competition began at 10:00 AM with the ASCOR Trophy, a Two-Phase class featuring 48 horse-and-rider pairs and an extremely tight final result. Just four hundredths of a second separated the winner from his two closest rivals, who finished in a tie for second place.
The victory went to Hugo Álvarez Amaro—one of the Spanish riders selected for the upcoming European Championships—who posted a winning time of 22.31 seconds aboard La Plus Belle VDW Z. Sharing second place with identical times of 22.35 seconds were two young Basque riders: Amaia Ucelay on Diamand du Breche and Izaro Junquera riding Danah. The best-ranked Asturian rider was junior Daniel Ocaña, who placed fifth with Furiazzo de L’Aubree.
The trophy was presented to the winner by José Manuel Valdés, CEO of ASCOR, accompanied by Christina Bares and Estanislao Fuentes Benítez, representing Yeguada Finca Maeza.
Saturday’s Competitions
On Saturday, July 5th—the second day of the event—three new classes are scheduled, starting at 11:15 AM. First up will be the Air Europa Trophy, followed by the Grupo Eulen Trophy, and concluding with the Caixabank Trophy, which will be held under the Winning Round format.