Billy Twomey (IRL) took his third win in two days, when taking the top honours in Friday's CSIO5* Longines Falsterbo Grand Prix riding the only 9-year-old Kimba Flamenco (Je T’Aime Flamenco x Heartbreaker). “My horses are going really well here obviously,” the happy winner laughed after the class. “My horse today was in a really good form ahead of this event, he was second in a 4* Grand Prix and he is now coming up to this level so I was quite confident that he could do a good performance today. I actually thought that everything was great today, the ground, the competition and the course that they build was really good. It was great jumping today and a great day of sport. I thought Irma got me in the end, but I just managed to hang on.” A total of 49 horse-and-rider combinations lined up for the class, and 12 of them went on to the second round – eight clears and then the four fastest four-faulters. The first round – build by Frank Rothenberger (GER) and Christian Wiegand (GER) – served the riders quite some questions to answer, like the combination after the open water or the triple combination away from the in-gate build on the shorter side of the arena. The second round gave the riders a chance to really stretch out in several places of the big grass ring as well as the options to do some tight turns. The second round started with the four-faulters and none of them managed to clear the course this time around either. The first one to produce a clear round was Peder Fredricson (SWE) with H&M Christian K (Namelus R x Calvados), to the joy of the home crowds. With his 56,37 seconds, the reigning European Champion put some pressure on the ones to come. “Obviously I should have been”, Peder laughed answering the question if he could have been any faster. “I’m actually really happy with my horse. We haven’t been the fastest but we slowly getting quicker and quicker so next year we will be even faster." Mark McAuley (IRL) with Jasco v. Bisshop (Dulf van den Bisschop x Krunch de Breve) was next out and looked like the new leader all the way to the very last fence that dropped to the ground – stopping the clock in 54,40 seconds. Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) did a steady second round riding Idi Utopia (Quasimodo Z x Udarco) – still he had to see one pole fall and add a time fault as well. Van der Vleuten’s compatriot Kevin Jochems on the other hand went all in, but also he had to see a pole fall and went in just behind McAuley with his 54,82 seconds. Last year’s winner of the Grand Prix in Falsterbo, Steve Guerdat (SUI) with Hannah (Dulf van den Bisschop x Kashmir van Schuttershof), really wanted to repeat his win, but after getting to the triple bar with a bit too much angle the hind pole fell and he went in behind Jochems with his 56,00 seconds. Malin Baryard-Johnsson (SWE) went clear and took over the runner-up position riding H&M Indiana (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Animo’s Hallo). She didn’t get to keep that position for long though since Billy Twomey was next out, pushing Peder down to second and Malin to third. “H&M Indiana is for sure one of the most capable horse I had, she jumps everything very easy but she is not the easiest to handle and I think that suits me well. I’m getting older so I need a bit of a challenge. She is a fighter like no one else and she is such an amazing horse,” Malin said about her bay mare. Last to go was another home rider, Irma Karlsson with Ida van de Bisschop (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Papillon Rouge), and she crossed the finish line in 55,89 seconds – just 0,09 seconds behind the winner Billy Twomey. “First of all I’m very happy with my horse. She is very careful and very fast. I was really happy with the first round and the second round had more mistakes from me, but she always does her best. I wanted to win and it was close, but I’m very happy to be second,” a pleased Irma said after her runner-up position.
Billy Twomey (IRL) took his third win in two days, when taking the top honours in Friday's CSIO5* Longines Falsterbo Grand Prix riding the only 9-year-old Kimba Flamenco (Je T’Aime Flamenco x Heartbreaker). “My horses are going really well here obviously,” the happy winner laughed after the class. “My horse today was in a really good form ahead of this event, he was second in a 4* Grand Prix and he is now coming up to this level so I was quite confident that he could do a good performance today. I actually thought that everything was great today, the ground, the competition and the course that they build was really good. It was great jumping today and a great day of sport. I thought Irma got me in the end, but I just managed to hang on.” A total of 49 horse-and-rider combinations lined up for the class, and 12 of them went on to the second round – eight clears and then the four fastest four-faulters. The first round – build by Frank Rothenberger (GER) and Christian Wiegand (GER) – served the riders quite some questions to answer, like the combination after the open water or the triple combination away from the in-gate build on the shorter side of the arena. The second round gave the riders a chance to really stretch out in several places of the big grass ring as well as the options to do some tight turns. The second round started with the four-faulters and none of them managed to clear the course this time around either. The first one to produce a clear round was Peder Fredricson (SWE) with H&M Christian K (Namelus R x Calvados), to the joy of the home crowds. With his 56,37 seconds, the reigning European Champion put some pressure on the ones to come. “Obviously I should have been”, Peder laughed answering the question if he could have been any faster. “I’m actually really happy with my horse. We haven’t been the fastest but we slowly getting quicker and quicker so next year we will be even faster." Mark McAuley (IRL) with Jasco v. Bisshop (Dulf van den Bisschop x Krunch de Breve) was next out and looked like the new leader all the way to the very last fence that dropped to the ground – stopping the clock in 54,40 seconds. Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) did a steady second round riding Idi Utopia (Quasimodo Z x Udarco) – still he had to see one pole fall and add a time fault as well. Van der Vleuten’s compatriot Kevin Jochems on the other hand went all in, but also he had to see a pole fall and went in just behind McAuley with his 54,82 seconds. Last year’s winner of the Grand Prix in Falsterbo, Steve Guerdat (SUI) with Hannah (Dulf van den Bisschop x Kashmir van Schuttershof), really wanted to repeat his win, but after getting to the triple bar with a bit too much angle the hind pole fell and he went in behind Jochems with his 56,00 seconds. Malin Baryard-Johnsson (SWE) went clear and took over the runner-up position riding H&M Indiana (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Animo’s Hallo). She didn’t get to keep that position for long though since Billy Twomey was next out, pushing Peder down to second and Malin to third. “H&M Indiana is for sure one of the most capable horse I had, she jumps everything very easy but she is not the easiest to handle and I think that suits me well. I’m getting older so I need a bit of a challenge. She is a fighter like no one else and she is such an amazing horse,” Malin said about her bay mare. Last to go was another home rider, Irma Karlsson with Ida van de Bisschop (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Papillon Rouge), and she crossed the finish line in 55,89 seconds – just 0,09 seconds behind the winner Billy Twomey. “First of all I’m very happy with my horse. She is very careful and very fast. I was really happy with the first round and the second round had more mistakes from me, but she always does her best. I wanted to win and it was close, but I’m very happy to be second,” a pleased Irma said after her runner-up position.