Giacomo Bassi Blazes to Victory in the €105,500 Lotto Cup – Grand Prix of Sopot CSIO 4*

By Jumper News on 2025-06-17

Sopot, Poland – June 15, 2025 – The most important competition of this year’s edition of 2025 Lotto Sopot CSIO 4* – played for the €105,500 Lotto Cup – Grand Prix of Sopot CSIO 4* under the patronage of Wirtualna Polska, provided exactly the emotions expected from a Grand Prix – and maybe even more. A difficult course, demanding competition and an incredibly close fight for victory made the Sopot audience remember this afternoon for a long time.

There were 42 pairs on the starting list, including three Polish representatives: Wojciech Dahlke (8th on the starting list), Wojciech Wojcianiec (17th) and Michał Kaźmierczak (36th). The competition was held at a height of 160 cm, in a two-round format (with a final turn for the best).

The course of the first round, designed by the track host Szymon Tarant, required great precision, courage and skill – both from riders and horses. Mistakes were frequent and a clean run was worth its weight in gold. 11 pairs advanced to the second round – unfortunately without Polish representatives, despite high hopes and support from the large audience.

The second round of the Grand Prix was the culmination of sporting emotions – from the last four starting competitors, each subsequent one took the lead, causing applause and great tension in the stands. Ultimately, the Italian Giacomo Bassi (ITA) won on Cape Cod, achieving a time of 43.08 seconds and leaving the competition literally a fraction of a second behind.

**Rik Hemeryck** (BEL) & **Inoui du Seigneur**

Rik Hemeryck (BEL) on Inoui du Seigneur claimed second place, registering no penalties with a jump-off time of 43.25 seconds.

**Renee Ulvsbjerg** (DEN) & **Celeste Balslev**

The podium was completed by Renee Ulvsbjerg (DEN) on Celeste Balslev, who finished just four-tenths of a second slower than the latter two, being timed in 43.29 seconds.

Fourth place was taken by Vanessa-Joy Nägele (Liechtenstein), and fifth was the winner of Saturday’s competition for the Ergo Hestia Cup – Frederic Vernaet on Paulus-L. His time – 43.75 seconds – shows how even the level was and how close he was to the podium – only 0.67 seconds.

We would like to thank our title partner – the Lotto brand, which not only supports the development of equestrianism in Poland, but also helps create events at the highest global level. Thanks to them, the Sopot hippodrome has once again become an arena of sports emotions on an international scale.