Falsterbo, Sweden – July 14, 2024 – On Sunday, the sun returned to Falsterbo and when the clock struck two, the stands were packed to the brim with spectators who wanted to see the absolute world elite square off in the prestigious €308,600 Agria Falsterbo Grand Prix CSIO 5*. Sandra Auffarth (GER) won with Quirici H.
Today’s track was composed by an experienced track builder quartet consisting of Spaniards Santiago Varela (ESP) and Elena Boix, together with Swedes Fredrik Malm and Frida Andersson. The class offered 42 starters where the best 11 crews advanced to the Winning Round.
The course in round 1 was ridden over 13 obstacles with 16 jumps and a maximum time of 82 seconds which for the day would prove to be difficult to pass. After the first round, only Pius Schwizer (SUI), Kristaps Neretnieks (LAT), Sandra Auffarth (IRL) and Cian O’Connor (IRL) had managed to deliver a flawless round; which meant that it was them and seven other combinations, including Abdel Saïd (BEL) who incurred a time, who would settle for the victory in the Winning Round.
In an exciting winning round, it was both time and obstacle errors that were decisive and one by one the big favorites fell away. The class was finally won by the German Sandra Auffart (GE)R together with Quirici H who had not even had a thought about winning. But the horse exceeded her expectations and the team was finally victorious in this year’s Agria Falsterbo Grand Prix.
“I thought it would be a round to get routine at this height, and then he jumped super and was super concentrated!”
After the victory, the rider said that before her ride she had no idea that the time was so difficult to pass, nor how fast the other riders had ridden:
“It was quite a tough track, quite technical. I had no idea, I must honestly say, of how fast the other riders had been riding.”
The winner is a former event rider, with several championship medals in her bag, and while several combinations had problems with the time, Sandra managed to be on the right side of the clock. And perhaps it was precisely the background of the field competition that meant that time did not become a concern, neither in the first round nor in the Winning round, in which she beat the lightning-fast Irishman Cian O’Connor (IRL) by over a second.
Final Results – €308,600 Agria Falsterbo Grand Prix CSIO 5* – 1.60m
1) Sandra Auffarth (GER) & Quirici H – 0 / 0 – 52.56
2) Cian O’Connor (IRL) & Fancy de Kergane – 0 / 0 – 53.62
3) Abdel Saïd (BEL) & Figueras de Laume – 1 / 1 – 62.36
Source: Press Release (edited) from the Falsterbo Horse Show
Photos: © Falsterbo Horse Show
Discover more from JUMPER NEWS
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: CSIO 5*, English, Jumper News Deutschland
