Marcus Ehning won the Longines FEI World Cup 2023 Grand Prix City of Madrid

Marcus Ehning, one of the most successful riders in the powerful German equestrian world, prolongs his idyll with Madrid. The German already knows what it means to win the Grand Prix in the two equestrian competitions organized every year in the Spanish capital: the Global Champions Tour and the World Cup. With packed stands, the three-time winner of the World Cup Final once again showed his magic in the center ring of IFEMA's Hall 12, achieving a historic triumph, as he is the first rider who has been able to win this event three times. And he has achieved his third triumph in a special edition, the tenth. "The competition does not stop growing, we can expect a lot for the next ten editions," said the director of the competition, Alvaro Arrieta, at the press conference after the test.

The Grand Prix City of Madrid, which counts towards the Longines FEI World Cup, did not disappoint and exceeded all expectations. The stands were too small to follow a test in which five of the nine best riders of the FEI ranking took part.

Ten riders qualified for the tiebreaker, among them two Spanish representatives. Almost at the beginning, Mariano Martínez Bastida and "Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z" became the third pair to finish without fault, and when the test was already in its final stretch, Teresa Blázquez with "Nasa de Toxandria" also joined the group of riders who would continue to opt for the victory. The Dehesa Montenmedio rider signed the tenth zero, maintaining the line of regularity that she has shown throughout the weekend.

The top two in the FEI ranking also qualified for the tiebreaker: Henrik von Eckermann, who did it with "Calizi", and Ben Maher, with a horse with little experience, "Enjeu de Griesen". Also two riders who had already won this event twice, such as Marcus Ehning, with "Coolio 42", a horse he has only been riding for a short time, and Julien Epaillard with "Donatello d'Auge", or the winner of the Grand Prix of the CSI5*-W in Stuttgart last weekend, Frenchman Kevin Staut, who together with Pedro Veniss, who came fifth at the Pan American Games, or Frenchmen Olivier Robert and Jeanne Sadran offered a magnificent show for the audience, with a tiebreaker of those that make fans.

Marcus Ehning, true to his style and with apparent ease, led the tiebreaker with "Coolio 42", a 10 year old holsteiner, son of "Casalito", with whom he has been competing for two months. The German, as if he had known his horse all his life, made the best time of the four pairs that finished without fault, taking the win. He finished in 42.13 seconds, lowering the 42.38 seconds that had allowed Ben Maher and "Enjeu de Grisien" to lead the classification until that moment. The British finished the race in second place.
Mariano Martínez Bastida with "Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z" finished second. The winning pair of this season's CSI4* Deauville again performed a great test. After his success, the Spanish rider commented that "I will try to do the maximum number of World Cup competitions and if I qualify for the Final in Riyadh, then we will go". After the points obtained in today's test, Martínez Bastida is in sixteenth place.
Teresa Blázquez was in charge of closing the tiebreaker with "Nasa de Toxandria". This time she finished with two faults in the double, which led the rider of Dehesa Montenmedio and the daughter of "Vertigo Saint-Benoit" to a meritorious ninth place.

It was the epilogue to a great event, with many of the best riders in the world and two Spaniards fighting for the victory.
The winner received the cup from the hands of Inmaculada Sanz, Deputy Mayoress of Madrid and also a Longines watch from Elena Orozco, Brand Manager of Longines Spain.