Eduardo Alvarez Aznar and Victoria Gulliksen, both the children of Olympic riders, shared victory in the Six Bar, jumping 1.95m in the fifth and final round, at Olympia, The London International Horse Show. Victoria, 23, the daughter of Olympia perennial Geir Gulliksen from Norway, has been coming to the show every year since she was born but this is the first time she has been a competitor here. London International Horse Show- Olympia 2015It was also her first six-bar class, in which the row of six upright fences is raised with each round, but Grand Balou, her 12-year-old by Balou de Rouet, jumped spectacularly, to the delight of a packed house. ‘He does everything – speed, puissance, derbys – he’s a fantastic horse to have in the family,’ said Victoria, who bought the gelding from Britain’s Carl Hanley. ‘The crowd is unreal – they give you a real adrenalin kick.’ Eduardo’s father, Luis, a six-time Olympian in eventing and show jumping for Spain, trains the New Zealand eventing team and former world number one, Andrew Nicholson, who is currently recovering from a bad fall, happened to be at Olympia to watch. Eduardo, 31, was competing on a new horse, the nine-year-old stallion Chatman, who he bought from an amateur rider in France. ‘It’s my first time here,’ he explained. ‘The show is even better than people say it is.’ Earlier, Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer riding Leonardo de la Ferme CH made quick work of the Holly Speed Stakes. The third last rider in the arena, he beat Ireland’s Cian O’Connor (Coco ll) by 0.34secs. Ben Maher was fourth on Quabble and, as a result, has overtaken John Whitaker by eight points for the H & M Leading Rider of Show award.
