Pello Elorduy storms to victory in the Caixabank Trophy with an all-out round

The Caixabank Trophy was the highest-level class on the second day of the CSI3* taking place at Yeguada Finca Maeza. The final round, ridden by Pello Elorduy, secured victory for the Basque rider by just 0.15 seconds.

CAIXABANK TROPHY

A spectacular, all-out round secured the winning round in the Caixabank Trophy, for which the top thirteen riders from the first round had qualified. The star of the class was Pello Elorduy with Champenoise de Rampan, who, with an impressive final gallop, managed to beat the time of the previous leader, Armando Trapote on Karl P.

The Montenmedio rider was leading with a time of 35 seconds, but Pello Elorduy and his mare stopped the clock at 34.85 seconds, thrilling the large crowd that gathered on Saturday at Yeguada Finca Maeza.

Out of the twelve combinations that made it to the jump-off, seven produced another clear round. Finishing third, behind Pello and Armando, was Álvaro González de Zárate with Ebane du Mesnil.

A very emotional Pello Elorduy collected the winner’s trophy from Emilio Cuadrado, Caixabank’s Commercial Director for Asturias and Cantabria, who was joined by Christina Bares and Álvaro Arrieta, representing Yeguada Finca Maeza and Oxer Sport, respectively.

GRUPO EULEN TROPHY
The intermediate event of the day was the Grupo EULEN Trophy, a Speed and Handiness competition in which each knockdown is penalized with 4 seconds added to the total time of the round. The course was set at a height of 1.35 meters and had a clear and undisputed winner, another rider from Asturias just like in the previous competition: Javier Gutiérrez Rilo.

A native of Avilés, like Natalia Gutiérrez, Rilo is an accomplished horse trainer, and in this event he showed that his 8-year-old mare, Merina Star, is more than ready for competition. She was fit and well-prepared, as evidenced by her spectacular round in the Grupo EULEN Trophy, which she completed in 56.31 seconds, finishing more than 4 seconds ahead of Catalan rider Laura Roquet, who took second place with Cricket (60.34 seconds).

In third place, just one hundredth of a second behind Laura Roquet, was French rider Alexandre Bouradel, riding Hip Hop de B’Neville (60.35 seconds), while Eric Van der Vleuten Jr and a home-bred mare, Helia de Maeza, placed fourth (60.60 seconds).

Javier Gutiérrez Rilo received the trophy from Carlos Tartiere, Business Development Manager for the northwest region at Grupo EULEN.

AIR EUROPA TROPHY
The first class on Saturday’s schedule was the Air Europa Trophy, which ended with a strong showing from two young Asturian riders. The speed class was held over 1.25-meter-high obstacles and featured 30 participants, 20 of whom completed the course without any faults.

The fastest round came from Natalia Gutiérrez Blanco, a rider from Avilés, who claimed victory with a time of 55.96 seconds riding her mare Venus As de Pic.

An unusual situation occurred in the battle for second place: a tie in both points and time — a rare event, but one that had already happened during the first day of the competition and repeated itself in this Air Europa Trophy.

Sharing second place were another young Asturian rider, Mar Pérez, and Galician rider Javier González Fraga. Both finished with zero penalties and identical times of 57.60 seconds. Mar Pérez was riding Diane du Val, while the rider from A Coruña took second place ex aequo on his grey horse, Obolensky JGF.

Lucía Fernández Hidalgo presented the Air Europa Trophy to the winner on behalf of the sponsoring company, accompanied by Estanislao Fuentes and Álvaro Arrieta.

Tribute to Diego Usón
During the break between the first round and the jump-off of the Caixabank Trophy, a heartfelt tribute took place in the main arena at Yeguada Finca Maeza, with Diego Usón as the central figure. The rider and veterinarian from San Sebastián was honored by the organizers of the CSI3 Maeza*, in recognition of his outstanding career in the Veteran Riders category, in which he has already earned two European Championship titles, one runner-up finish, and two gold medals at the Spanish National Championships.

Cruz Maestre, director of Yeguada Finca Maeza, and Álvaro Arrieta, president of Oxer Sport, presented Usón—who was also celebrating his birthday that Saturday—with a trophy and a bottle of Foncueva cider, perfect for toasting to so many achievements.

---

Sunday Competitions
The 5th CSI3 Maeza* will conclude on Sunday, July 6, with three final events, beginning at 10:00 a.m. The day will start with the Foncueva Trophy (1.25m), followed by the Oquendo Trophy (1.35m), and will culminate with the Maeza Grand Prix (1.50m), the most prestigious event of the competition.