11/12/2023 - 09:43

Harry Charles won in a vibrant Grand Prix Casas Novas of the Longines FEI World Cup

Harry Charles rounded off his outstanding performance in the show by winning the test with “Sherlock”.
Harry Charles leaves A Coruña as the new leader of the Western European League of the Longines FEI World Cup. The young British rider is already more than a promise and Casas Novas is a favorable track for his successes. In the 2022 edition he was second in the two Grand Prix and in this year's edition, after winning the first big test, he was in the tiebreaker of the Longines Grand Prix and today he won brilliantly in the Grand Prix Casas Novas, which counts for the Longines FEI World Cup. A great balance.

The test had a plus of emotion, due to the classification of three Spanish riders for the tiebreaker. A very crowded tiebreaker, for which 14 riders qualified and in which Santiago Núñez Riva with “Chakira Z”, Mariano Martínez Bastida with “Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z” and Armando Trapote with “Tornado VS” were with a chance of victory.

While the zeros were generous in the first round, in the tie-breaker, they were very hard to come by. The CaixaBank vertical, third of the course, and the Longines vertical that closed it, were frequently knocked down. Santiago Núñez Riva and “Chakira Z” knocked down the second element of the double, while Mariano and “Belano” touched the CaixaBank vertical, as well as one of the great favorites for the victory in the race, the world number one, the Swede Henrik Von Eckermann.
In the barrage it was necessary to wait for the eleventh participant to reach the first zero and it was Armando Trapote with “Tornado VS”, taking the lead in the classification with three other riders remaining. The son of “Toulon” made two brilliant rides, jumping very round, calm and despite his short size, well over the obstacles, setting a reference time in the tiebreaker of 45'98 seconds.

But after the first zero, two more came and both were faster than the Spanish team, which in the end was classified in third position. Max Kühner repeated the zero and lowered the time to 45'69 with the promising 9 years old “EIC Julius Caesar” and while William Greve lost the victory when he knocked down the last obstacle when his time had been 42'57, Harry Charles secured the victory with “Sherlock” with his second zero of the afternoon, in 44'92. A victory that brings him 20 points and places him with 55 at the top of the provisional standings of the Longines FEI World Cup European league.

In the Gran Premio Casas Novas, Mariano Martínez Bastida added 10 points thanks to his seventh place in the test, being now twelfth in the overall ranking and Santiago Núñez Riva was ranked tenth.

Harry Charles received the Casas Novas Trophy from Flora Pérez Marcote and Elena Orozco, Brand Manager of Longines Spain, presented the winner with the Longines watch.

The following lap of honor put an end to this winter edition of the CSI A Coruña, a competition that has brought together elite riders and horses, and that has had enormous support from the public, who crowded the indoor riding arena of Casas Novas in each session of the program.