This Sunday, the young Brazilian Stephan de Freitas Barcha, riding Land Peter do Feroleto, won his second Grand Prix in the Vilamoura Atlantic Tour, finishing with a clear round the 9 obstacles of the jump-off in 46.16 seconds.
This Grand Prix was dedicated to the memory of Francisco Moura, a young Portuguese rider and trainer, who early passed away in 2010. While he was on top of a successful international and national career he came to be the Portuguese vice-champion in 2009 and represented Portugal in the CSIO 5* World Cup of 2010, held in Lisbon.
The second place in this top competition of the show was for the French Morgan Bordat, riding Star de la Bavière, with 48.40 seconds. The third was for the Moroccan Samy Colman, riding Simara Alia, with 48.43 seconds. They both had clear rounds. In this competition (1.45 metres, CSI 2*), 12 of the 55 initial riders stepped forward to the jump-off.
The 26 year old rider from Brazil won the first and the third Grands Prix taking place so far, while the Italian Matteo Zamana won the second one.
"This jump-off was long and challenging; I invested more on a clear jump-off than on a quick one, as this horse is a good jumper, not a sprinter, unlike the mare with whom I won in the first week" said Barcha at the end of the competition, disclosing that he will take today's winning horse to Rio de Janeiro, in the case he gets to the Olympics.
This Sunday's Grand Prix, the third competition of this equestrian show, is the corollary of a third week of fierce competition on both arenas of the Clube Hípico de Vilamoura.
It was a week in which British riders took the lead, achieving 27 presences in the first three places of the 28 competitions held. The French teams came in second place, with 19 presences on the podium.
While in the first places, the British National Anthem was played nine times between Tuesday and Sunday, as well as La Marseillese.
The two countries took off vis-à-vis in wins and presences on the podium; however, during this last week the third place in number of wins went for a newcomer: Morocco won three times and stepped four times to the podium. This was an absolute premiere in the top places for an African country in this year's show.
In the last six days, Portuguese riders reached the podium seven times but only Mário Prieto, riding Gazelle B, won a competition - on Tuesday, 1st of March -, in the class of five year old young horses.