Ph. Manuel Queimadelos
Gudrun Patteet was proclaimed winner of the Longines Trophy at CSI4* A Coruna, Spain on Saturday, July 30th, 2016 in a hotly contested winning round-format competition. Riding Sea Coast Pebbles Z, the Belgian rider demonstrated that she on top form less than one week after her victory in the CSI4* Ascona Grand Prix. She was the first out in the arena of the second round and finished with 30.82 seconds that kept her in the lead until the end.
The German rider Tobias Meyer was really close with Coolmann, just 11 hundredths of a second behind Patreet. And the Frenchman Patrice Delaveau was brilliant again with Leontinne, stopping the clock in 30.97 seconds, just 0.15seconds away from Patteet. The current runner-up is doing an excellent job in A Coruna, claiming two second places, a third and a fifth in the four competitions he has participated.
After the prize giving ceremony, Patteet said she was very satisfied with Pebbels: “It is the first big class that he has done for a long time,” she commented. “He jumped very well at the beginning of the season but in St. Gallen was frightened and since then it has been difficult getting confidence together back. I’m really happy”.
In addition to the trophy, the winner received a Longines watch. On Sunday, Patteet said that she will compete in the CaixaBank Grand Prix with Atlantic, her top performing partner with experience at the highest levels of the sport. About her expectations, the rider is confident she will do well: “Yesterday, we went slowly without any fault in the biggest class, and I think Atlantic will be fresh for tomorrow”.
Spanish riders haven’t made the podium yet this week in A Coruna; of the three Spaniards who competed in the second round of Saturday’s Longines Trophy, only Carlos Lopez-Fanjul Tariere managed to finish his course without faults, but he was nearly four seconds slower from the time set by Patteet to finish in 9th place.
See all results from CSI4* Casa Novas at this link.