Quarteira, Faro, Portugal – November 06, 2022 – Another chapter of the seesaw battle between Ireland and Great Britain was written on Sunday at the VillaMoura Equestrian Centre and it was James Smith (GBR) and Arkuga who came out on top in the €100,000 Crédito Agricola Grand Prix CSI 3*.
The most important class of the fourth week of the 2022 VillaMoura ChampionsTour featured a total of 56 combinations in the first round of the 1.50m challenge with 15 of them advancing to the tiebreaker. In the end, Smith and the 2011 bay Anglo-European Sport Horse (Arko III x Heartbreaker) blew past all the finalists, doing so in flawless fashion while stopping the jump-off timers in 34.62 seconds.
A young rider on the rider who has registered several top placings lately, Cathleen Driscoll (USA) continued to shine with Arome (Norway de La Lande x Attila III ), climbing the second-highest position on the podium after posting a clean scorecard and a final time of 35.34 seconds.
This time, Ireland did not manage to put any of their representatives within the top three, however, it was Great Britain who was once again represented on the podium. In fact, it was a member of the most traditional family of the noble sport. Joe Whitaker (GBR) rode Hulahupe JR ( VDL Bubalu x Indoctro) towards bronze honors, clearing all the obstacles in their two performances too while securing the third spot in 35.60 seconds.
Final Results – €100,000 Crédito Agricola Grand Prix CSI 3*
1) James Smith (GBR) & Arkuga – 0 / 0 – 34.62
2) Cathleen Driscoll (USA) & Arome – 0 / 0 – 35.34
3) Joe Whitaker (GBR) & Hulahupe JR – 0 / 0 – 35.60
Text: Jumper News, no reproduction without permission.
Photos: © Vilamoura Tours
Categories: CSI 3*, English, Jumper News Great Britain
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