Spanish riders dominate the CaixaBank Trophy at the CSI4* in A Coruña
The opening day of the CSI A Coruña at the magnificent Casas Novas arena ended on a thrilling note, with the Spanish riders shining. Iván Serrano came out on top in a head-to-head battle with Sergio Álvarez Moya, claiming victory in the CaixaBank Trophy.
The CaixaBank Trophy, the main event on the first day of the CSI4* A Coruña, was decided in a jump-off involving the twelve rider-horse pairs who managed to complete the course designed by Javier Trenor for the event – featuring obstacles with a maximum height of 1.50 metres – without any faults. Of the twelve qualifiers for the jump-off, eight were Spanish, and this numerical majority was also reflected in the final standings, with Spanish riders taking the top two places.
A brilliant round by Iván Serrano on the veteran “Rain Man” put the Biscayan rider, who lives in Cantabria, at the top of the standings with a time of 32.29, a time that no one else managed to beat.
The rider who tried hardest to do so was Sergio Álvarez Moya, but riding a nine-year-old mare with little experience, “Be Blue”, the Asturian was unable to go below 32.91, a time that secured him second place in the final standings.
The remaining seven riders to achieve double clear rounds in the CaixaBank Trophy were some way off the times set by the top two. Sweden’s Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli came third with “Iron Dames Calvino II de Nyze Z” (35.22), whilst another Spanish pair, Joel Vallés and “Chalawito PS”, finished in fourth place after two magnificent clear rounds and a time of 36.03 in the jump-off.
Eduardo Álvarez Aznar, who came sixth with “Harlequín des Flagues”, and Ismael García Roque, who came seventh with “Tirano”, also achieved a clear round.
The winner, Iván Serrano, received his trophy from Ramón Castiñeira, commercial director of CaixaBank’s businesses in Galicia.
Italian victory in the Veolia Trophy
The afternoon programme on the opening day of the CSI A Coruña began with an Italian victory, led by the talented Luca María Moneta. The rider from Casas Novas is competing in his third consecutive show in Spain in recent weeks and has secured at least one victory in each of them.
His victory at the A Coruña event came in the Veolia Trophy, a competition judged under the Two-Phase format, in which Moneta triumphed riding “Knock Out” with a time of 25.75 in the deciding phase. The rider who came closest to the Italian’s result was a Spanish rider, Laura Roquet, who completed the second phase with “Nina Puigroq” in 26.68, whilst Iván Serrano came third with “Paco vd Bisschop” (27.12).
The Veolia Trophy was contested by 40 pairs, with 13 achieving a clear round in both phases.
Veolia’s representative in Galicia, Pablo Nieto, presented the trophy to the winner.
With these two events held on Friday afternoon, the programme for the opening day of the CSI A Coruña came to an end. On Saturday, there will be four new events: the Porsche Trophy and the Checkpoint Trophy in the morning, and the Grupo Eulen Trophy and the Longines Trophy in the afternoon. And between these two events, there will be live music provided by Platinum Sound Show.