THE LONGINES GRAND PRIX GOES TO JULIEN ANQUETIN, WITH JESÚS GARMENDIA SECOND

The excitement and passionate atmosphere that was experienced at the Casas Novas facilities on the occasion of the jump-off of the Longines Grand Prix and the possibility of a Spanish triumph that was near until the last moment.
The expert Jesús Garmendia and his spectacular "Callias" gave their best in the run-off and took the lead in the classification with a time of 38'36 seconds, which seemed unbeatable, after a second run of ten, with an intense gallop and a breathtaking turn towards the finish line.

But shortly after, Julien Anquetin ruined the victory options of the rider from San Sebastian, with a copy of his ride, but with a little more intensity in the last line, where the Frenchman and his 12-year-old "Blood Diamond du Pont" recovered a few hundredths of a second decisive to get the victory. The French rider stopped the clock when he crossed the finish line in 37'70 seconds, only 63 hundredths of a second less than the Spanish rider.

In any case, an impressive result for Jesús Garmendia, culminating a magnificent season with the second place in a Grand Prix of 1'55 in which he had as rivals many riders of the world's elite.

The course had 45 riders and 15 rides without fault, with ten of them repeating the clear round in the jump-off. A jump-off that was performed over 8 obstacles and 9 efforts and in which six riders managed to finish without faults under 40 seconds.

The third fastest double clear was Christian Ahlmann with "Mandato van de Neerheide". The German was third with 38'61 seconds, while Lorenzo de Luca was fourth with "F One Usa" and Sweden's Evelina Tovek placed fifth with "Azaria Dinero".

In addition to Garmendia, another Spanish rider qualified for the barrage: Santiago Núñez Riva. The Yeguada Casa'l Capellán rider did a magnificent test with "Valentino De Hus", both in the previous round and in the jump-off, with clear round and a time that took him to tenth place in the final standings. The stallion jumped again like in his best times.

The winner of the Longines Grand Prix, the Frenchman Julien Anquetin, received the trophy from Flora Pérez Marcote on behalf of Casas Novas, and later, Elena Orozco, Brand Manager of Longines Spain, presented him with the Longines watch.