Jesús Garmendia won with "Valut 2" in the vibrant jump off of the CaixaBank Trophy 2023

The second day of the CSI3* Maeza, which is being held at the Yeguada Finca Maeza facilities, in the Asturian municipality of Sariego, closed with an exciting jump-off. With a devilish pace, Jesús Garmendia won the jump-off that decided the classification of the Caixabank Trophy, the big class of the day.

The CaixaBank Trophy fulfilled the aspirations of any good equestrian fan, with a lot of excitement in the jump-off, with a large audience in the Yeguada Finca Maeza arena. The test, with heights of 1'45 meters, was played according to the Winning Round scale, with a winner's round reserved for the 14 best riders. Two of the qualified riders, Eduardo Álvarez Aznar and Teresa Blázquez, decided not to participate, so the jump-off was reduced to 12 riders.

The first participant was Kevin González de Zárate and the super fast rider from Alava lived up to his reputation with "Conthargos Rouge". His 38'33 seconds seemed unreachable and although several groups tried and came close, Kevin reached the final jump-off section leading the standings.

However, another Basque rider, the expert Jesús Garmendia, who is having a magnificent competition, was to make the change of leader possible.

The rider from San Sebastian took the maximum risk with the veteran sorrel "Valut 2" and achieved what seemed impossible: to beat Kevin. The timer stopped in 37'69 seconds and Jesús Garmendia was able to receive the CaixaBank Trophy at the trophy ceremony, from the hands of Iñaki Gondra, Commercial Director of Banca CaixaBank Zona Norte.

The Mexican Fernando Martínez Sommer, who had been second on Friday with "Lady van de Haarterhoeve", was third in this CaixaBank Trophy, with a time of 39'28, while Mariano Martínez Bastida lost the victory when he knocked down the last obstacle, when his time gave him the victory with "Elixir de Hus".

Jesús Garmendia commented after his victory that "the previous course seemed very technical to me, I told the chief course, you had to be very concentrated in all the lanes, you needed a lot of concentration, because it was very easy to escape the knockdown. Then, in the jump-off, the most complicated thing was the speed. And also the last obstacle, a vertical one close to the fence. I risked a lot in the entry to the double, but I was able to do it because my horse is skilled and everything went well".