The 5* competition in Verona kicked off this afternoon with a nice 1.45m class. Here it was Lorenzo de Luca who achieved the best result in the saddle of Dirka de Blondel (Very Berlin de Castel), and thus took the win.
Even before the first ten combinations had their turn, places one and two had already been decided. Jennifer Hochstadter from Liechtenstein was third at the start of the 1.45m high course and immediately set a clear round in a time to beat of 27.88 seconds, something that in the end only Lorenzo de Luca, who started ninth, managed to do better. Hochstadter jumped to silver with the 10-year-old Selle Français gelding CSIO Bel (Tinka's Boy), after de Luca and Dirka de Blondel. The Austrian Gerfried Puck climbed the third step of the podium, partly thanks to the 8-year-old Equitron Ornaat V Gerfried Puck (Ut Majeur de Brecey) who raced around clear in a time of 29.59 seconds.
The other two places in the top five went to two French combinations. Edward Levy won here on the back of the stallion Catchar Mail (Diamant de Semilly) from his compatriot Simon Delestre in the saddle of Enjoy d'Eole.