Celia Cobo and Pello Elorduy, winners in Gijón

Three hundred horses met this weekend at the Astur Equestrian Club to compete in the fifth CSN5* of the Royal Spanish Equestrian Federation's National Jumping League. The Securitas Direct Grand Prix and the Exiom Grand Prix were the two qualifying events at the Gijón venue.

In the second of these, the Exiom Grand Prix, qualifying for the Gold League (1.50m obstacles), six of the 29 participants managed to overcome the course designed by the track manager, Eduardo Álvarez Estrada, without penalty, going on to compete in the jump-off. Among them were the top two finishers in the League, Álvaro González de Zárate and Pello Elorduy, and both were the real stars of the barrage. Pello Elorduy completed his run without fail on “Flonflon” in 37’40 seconds and remained at the top of the provisional classification until the last participant in the jump-off, which was Álvaro González de Zárate with “Casa Diva PS”. The rider from Heras tried and managed to finish his run without being knocked down, but was 50 hundredths of a second behind Pello Elorduy, having to settle for second place in the final classification of the test. Third, also with zero points in the jump-off, was Álvaro González de Zárate with his other horse, “Najac vh Kluizebos”, while Carlos Calvo was fourth with “Bellagio Massuere”.

Silver League

The Securitas Direct Grand Prix, a qualifying test for the RFHE Silver League, was led by two young riders, who competed in accuracy. The brand new European junior team runner-up with the Spanish team, Celia Cobo Terán, won. The rider from Cantabria made two impeccable runs with the veteran “Alto du Roc”, with a time of 42’54 in the jump-off that gave her the victory. Behind her was the Cordoba rider Castora Ortiz Agüera, who stopped the clock with “Robinson” in 44’15, with the expert Basque rider Rubén Gómez coming in third, with “Dinamyc de Carthina Z” (44’75). The fourth double zero of the test was achieved by another young rider, the Basque rider Lúa Onraita, who completed her run with “Fellow” in 49’83. Following these results, Pello Elorduy remains at the top of the Liga Plata standings with 174 points, ahead of Rubén Gómez (164) and Kevin González de Zárate (153). In the Liga Oro, the two outstanding protagonists in the exciting play-off of the Gran Premio Exiom are joint leaders of the provisional standings. Both have 182 points, while Iván Serrano, who was unable to compete in the CSN5* in Gijón due to injury, is third with 110 points.