Yesterday afternoon, at the impressive Las Mestas facility, where the Gijón International Show Jumping Competition is being held these days, as every year at the end of summer, the Lacera Trophy was contested in the Winning Round format.
This particular class classifies the best pairs from the 4 betting series into which the main competition was divided, in a jump-off style winning round. The characteristic feature of this format is that you can make it through to the winning round having incurred 4 faults, provided you are the fastest in the series, adding extra excitement to this class. 12 pairs took part in this «Winning Round», amongst whom we had Spanish representation from Kevin González De Zarate Fernández, Álvaro González De Zarate Fernández and Mariano Martínez Bastida.
The first to go in this winning round was the Turk, Derin Demirsoy, with his KWPN gelding, «Elzas», who set the pace of the competition by recording the fastest clear round. The only one who managed to beat him was the Emirati rider, Abdullah Alsharbatly, with «Skorphults Baloutendro», but he faulted in the final part of the course, which cost him the victory.
Second was Mel Thijssen with «Florida Balia NL», who finished 6 hundredths behind the Turk. Third was Mariano Martínez Bastida with his super Quark de Preuilly Z, with whom he is having a splendid season. The stands at Las Mestas cheered the Murcian rider, making him the best Spaniard in the competition.
