The Spanish Showjumping Championships started up with the first qualifier for the Young Horses

Kevin González de Zárate was the fastest rider in the 7yr oldswith ‘Kristal’s Beauty B’ and in the 6yr olds, Jorge Bidón Daurella with ‘Good Night du Cedre’ took the top spot.
Tomorrow the Championships continue here at  Montenmedio, with a busy day of jumping in all nine categories.
The show jumpers are back here at the at the Dehesa Montenmedio’s extensive installation. Today competition kicked off at full intensity with the first qualifying rounds for the Young Horses in the Spanish Showjumping Championships, with the six and seven year olds taking to the arenas in the first of the three rounds of their sections.
The seven year old class was held in the David Broome grass ring and was a testing course.  The fastest round was just 73.02 seconds by Kevin González de Zárate with the mare ‘Kristal’s  Beauty B’ who is owned by Yeguada Valbanera (‘F One Usa’ x ‘Inshallah de Muze’). Just behind and jumping a foot perfect round was Armando Trapote Mariscal with the lovely grey,  ‘Karl P’ (Carrera VDL x Burggraaf NV) in 73.08 seconds and owned by the same Yeguada as the winner. In third place was Silvia Diego Pardo with the mare ‘Lylith’.  31 horses jumped and in all ten horses went clear.
In the six year old class there were 36 horses and the winner was Jorge Bidón Daurella with ‘Good Night du Cedre’,  another mare who is actually owned by the Huerto de los Arroyos, and is by Vagabond de la Pomme.  They stopped the clock in 80.15 seconds,  just ahead of Carlos Bosch Cebrián with his own mare ‘Jolie Van der Berghoeve’, (Jaguar Vd Berghoeve x Kannan) in 81.01 seconds. Samuel Oliva Martínez with‘Kiana de la Chapelle’ (Dollar de Fremis x Ogano Sitte) took the last place on the podium in 81.06 seconds.  The class was held in the Milton arena and 15 horses jumped clear.
The rest of the participants in the Championships in the sections; Absoluto (Absolute), Jóvenes Jinetes (Young Riders), Clásico (Classic), the 1.40, 1.30, 1.20 and 1.10m and the 5yr old Young horses, have all  now have their Ring Familiarisations, and all of these sections will start their actual competitions tomorrow here at Montenmedio. Absoluto, Jóvenes Jinetes and the 7yr olds, will all jump in the David Broome main arena on grass.  The 5yr and 6 yr olds, the Clásicos of 1.10m and 1.40m will be held in the Milton arena ( NO 5).The Clásicos of 1.20m and 1.30m will be held in the Baloubet de Rouet arena (NO 8) and all in all it will be a very busy day of jumping here at the facilities. Classes start at 09:00 and continue through the day.
On Friday the first of the Finals for the sections will begin. This will be for the 6yr olds and is set at a height of 1.35m, also the second qualifier rounds will take place for the rest of the sections. OnSaturdaythere will be the finals for the Young Horses in both the 5 and the 7 year olds Championship sections and also for the 1.10, 1.20 and 1.30m OnSunday we will hold the biggest classes of the Championship, with the Finals for the Clásico 1.40m; the Jóvenes Jinetes and the final for the (Absolute Spanish Champion), Campeonato Absoluto de España, which will be set at the height of 1.55m.
So this is the general agenda for the first week of jumping here at the II Andalucía October Tour.  The event is generously sponsored by the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte, and co-financed by the European Union.  The Tour runs until the 30th of  October and after this first week, continues with three weeks of international showjumping of the highest calibre. With 600 riders and 1,500 horsesfrom across 36 different countries, it is be an event not to be missed. There is 600,000 euros in prize money to be won and the highlight at the end of the Tour is a Nations Cup.
To all horse and showjumping fans out there we would like to remind you that access to the showgound is absolutely free and an ample area for parking is also free. Inside the grounds there are many options for having a meal or a beverage and a snack, there are a variety of shops and plenty of arenas where you can watch the sport unfold.  With expansively beautiful grounds, Montenmedio really is a great place to visit for a complete family day out. If you are unable to visit; all the action is available live on the web pagewww.sunshinetour.netand in the Sunshine Tour, mobile application which is free for both Apple y Android devices, and where you can easily follow your favourite rider, watch their classes and see the starting lists and results.

HSJ
Press release Sunshine Tour Spanish Showjumping Championships  
Pictures by Moisés Basallote