Belgian rider Gregory Wathelet won the CSI3* Tío Pepe Grand Prix at the Sunshine Tour on Sunday. The win came on the talented grey 10-year-old mare Coree (Cornet Obolensky x Liberty Life), after a jump-off against four other riders. Speaking about Coree, Gregory said: “We are taking it slowly, but I have high expectations for this mare. I am convinced she will be an important mare for me in the future, I see a great career for her.” The track was build by the Dutch designer Louis Konickx, and only five riders made it through to the jump-off from a start list of the 60 best riders of this week. “When you walked the course it appeared smaller and simpler than last week’s Grand Prix designed by Javier Trenor, however it proved to have a high level of technical difficulty,” commented Wathelet after. The jump-off proved fast, and Wathelet won with a time of 39.36 seconds knocking British rider Robert Whitaker off the top spot with Catwalk IV (Carthago Z x Quick Star) after the two went in first and set the time to beat at 40.09 seconds. Two more Belgian riders followed; Jos Verlooy finished third with Caracas (Casall x Colman) and Fabienne Daigneux-Lange fourth on Baby Fee des Hazalles (President x Alcatraz). Czech’s Emma Augier de Moussac ended fifth on Charly Brown (Diamant de Semilly x Burggraaf).
