The sixth edition of the CSI3* Maeza is officially underway. On Friday, July 3, the opening day featured the first three classes of the competition, producing one Dutch victory and two Spanish wins.
Sariego (Asturias), 3 de julio de 2026.
The sixth edition of the CSI3* Maeza is officially underway. On Friday, July 3, the opening day featured the first three classes of the competition, producing one Dutch victory and two Spanish wins.
The standout Spanish success came from Jesús Garmendia in the day's feature class, which brought the programme to a close. The experienced rider from San Sebastián delivered a masterful jump-off performance in the BMW Autosa Trophy, where seven combinations qualified for the decisive round from a field of 50 starters. Displaying his trademark competitiveness aboard an outstanding “Callias,” Garmendia and the veteran grey gelding stopped the clock nearly two seconds ahead of their closest challenger, fellow Basque rider Iván Serrano riding “Corvara Blue PS.”
Just seven hundredths of a second behind Serrano, Asturian veteran Luis Jesús Escobar claimed third place aboard “Edesa’s Jento de Belle Vue.” Argentine three-time Olympian Martin Dopazo finished fourth with “I. Umonia R 60,” while French rider Olivier Robert took fifth place with “Gribaldi de Riverland.”
The winner's trophy was presented by José Luis Fernández Álvarez, President of Grupo Autosa, accompanied by Cristina Bares, representing Yeguada Finca Maeza, and Álvaro Arrieta, President of Oxer Sport.
Dutch Victory in the Opening Class
The day began with the ASCOR Trophy, a two-phase competition over 1.25m fences, featuring 41 combinations. Twenty-nine advanced to the second phase, with 27 once again producing faultless rounds.
Victory went to 13-year-old Dutch rider Pedro Mansur aboard “Away Semilly,” the only competitor to break the 19-second barrier. Son of Brazilian Olympian Yuri Mansur, Pedro has already built an impressive record at a remarkably young age and is continuing to demonstrate his exceptional talent in the Maeza arena.
Second place went to Asturian rider Javier Gutiérrez Rilo from Avilés, who finished just 0.32 seconds behind the winner aboard “Nino.” Third place was claimed by Russian-born rider Viktor Kurguzov, competing as a neutral athlete, riding “Canaska du Park.”
Two more Spanish riders completed the top five: Javier González Fraga aboard “Cornet Sound JGF” finished fourth, while Gijón's Luis Jesús Escobar took fifth with “Olassico Bridge KJV.”
José Manuel Valdés Loredo, CEO of Ascor S.A., presented the trophy to the young Dutch winner.
Kevin González de Zárate Continues His Winning Form
The second class of the day was the ARTIEM Trophy, attracting an impressive field of 94 combinations. Contested against the clock over 1.35m fences, the class produced no fewer than 68 clear rounds.
Once again, Kevin González de Zárate proved unbeatable. The rider from Vitoria set a blistering pace aboard the Dutch horse “Mac,” stopping the clock in 53.43 seconds to secure victory by a comfortable margin of more than one second over Javier Gutiérrez Rilo, who returned to the podium. This time, Gutiérrez Rilo partnered “Merina Star,” the mare with whom he finished runner-up in last Sunday's CSI2* Heras Grand Prix in Santander.
Portuguese rider Ricardo Gil Santos completed the podium, finishing just 0.13 seconds behind Gutiérrez Rilo aboard “Quanta Fortuna 2.”
Kevin González de Zárate received the ARTIEM Trophy from Luis Tuya Cuevas, Director of the ARTIEM Asturias Hotel.
The CSI3* Maeza continues on Saturday, July 4, with three more classes in the main arena at Yeguada Finca Maeza: the Europa Trophy, the Grupo EULEN Trophy and the CaixaBank Trophy.
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