Female riders take victory in the Porsche Trophy and the Checkpoint Trophy at CSI A Coruña
The Porsche Trophy and the Checkpoint Trophy made up the morning programme at CSI A Coruña on Saturday. Both classes were dominated by female riders, with Juana María Roig and Federica Fernández taking the victories.
The CSI1* class, held over 1.25 metres, opened the day with 19 competitors. It was the Porsche Trophy, a timed competition, in which 12 combinations managed to complete the course designed by Javier Trenor without penalties.
The result was very close as far as the top two places were concerned, with just four hundredths of a second separating first and second. The class reached its final stage with Viktor Kurguzov leading the standings with a time of 61.93 seconds on “Canaska du Park”, but the Russian rider, who trains with Luca Moneta and competes without a flag, was ultimately beaten by Juana María Roig.
The young Balearic rider, who is currently based in Vitoria under the guidance of Kevin González de Zárate, stopped the clock at 61.89 seconds, a time that secured her victory with “Jill Donna”. With this 12-year-old mare, Juana María Roig had already jumped clear in the opening day’s class.
Third place went to another Spanish rider linked to Kevin González de Zárate as trainer: Chantal Fernández Sáez, who rode her CDE “Bubalu”, a horse bred in Galicia, to a time of 63.75 seconds.
The winner’s trophy was presented by Jordi Curros, manager of the Porsche Centre A Coruña, accompanied by the president of Oxer Sport, Álvaro Arrieta.
Mexican victory in the Checkpoint Trophy
The second event of the morning, the highest-level competition in the CSI1*, was the Checkpoint Trophy, with maximum jump heights of 1.40 metres, in which once again a female rider took the top spot on the podium.
She did so by the narrowest of margins, just two hundredths of a second, but it was enough for Mexican rider Federica Fernández, daughter of Mexico’s Olympic rider Federico Fernández Senderos, to claim victory. She secured the win with the mare “Maricucha LS”, with a time of 29.34 seconds in the decisive phase of the course.
Asturian rider Miguel Álvarez-Buylla, who is having a magnificent competition, finished in second place with a time of 29.36 seconds on “Spirit van de Gaathoeve”, while Gonzalo Busca was once again among the best, this time finishing third with “Ouija”, with whom he clocked 29.55 seconds.
After the Mexican national anthem was played in her honour, Federica Fernández received the Checkpoint Trophy from José Caride, General Manager of Checkpoint ALS Iberia & Morocco.
The competition continues on Saturday at the Casas Novas Equestrian Centre, with an afternoon programme featuring the Grupo EULEN Trophy, 1.45m, and the Longines Trophy, 1.50m, both CSI4* A Coruña classes.