- Category: Show jumping
- 02 June 2024
Azzurri qualified for the semifinal of the Budapest circuit scheduled for July
Mission accomplished for the Italian show jumping team who today won the CSIO3* Nations Cup of the Longines EEF Series 2024.
Team Italy thus ends the group at the top with full points (200 points). ‘South Region’ qualifying for the semifinal of the Nations Cup circuit in Budapest.
This was one of the objectives of the Azzurri, together with that of allowing new pairs to gain experience in competitions of this type.
And at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre Roberto Turchetto on Heidelberg (0/0), Philip Bassan on Cerruti de Kreisker (0/4), Antonio Maria Garofalo on the Italian eight-year-old Abelle degli Assi (0/0) responded in the best possible way to Cittì’s call Marco Porro so much so that the entry into the field, in each of the two heats, of the more consolidated pairing composed of the chosen pinpointer was useless Bruno Chimirri also riding an Italian mare, the gray Samara (np/np).
Three horses were in fact debuting in a Nations Cup: Heidelberg, Cerruti de Kreisker and Abelle degli Assi.
After the three clear results of the first heat, Roberto Turchetto with Heidelberg and Antonio Maria Garofalo with Abelle degli Assi repeated themselves in the second lap, while Filippo Bassan closed with an error on Cerruti de Kreisker, for a race completed with only 4 penalties , ahead of hosts Greece (8/0; 231.93), Romania (8/0; 243.23), Ukraine (20/32) and Bulgaria (el.).
“ It’s a beautiful day for us – said Marco Porro –. We are all very happy because our horses jumped well. Congratulations to Roberto, who returned to the team after some time, and to Antonio for their clear doubles, and also to Giacomo at his second Nations Cup of his career. Now the Nations Cup awaits us in Drammen, next week, and in Prague at the end of the month, where, with the qualification for Budapest acquired, we will be able to field new pairs without having the pressure of the result. In the Budapest semi-final we will instead field an already experienced team because we want to earn the final of the Warsaw circuit. However, in the same week we will also be in the five-star CSIO in Falsterbo, and here too we will go with a team with the intention of doing well. Being able to field two competitive teams at the same time is confirmation of the good work carried out over the years by involving young horses and emerging riders in the project to grow in terms of experience.”
Click HERE for the results
As already on Friday, the Italian duos stood out in the other categories of the CSIO.
Yesterday Saturday, there was in fact the success of Philip Bassan with Tinkabelle RS in a two-run ranking race with a double clear run (0/0; 50.02)
The tests were also error-free Andrea Messersìthird with Chacco Slice (0/0; 52.44) and the chosen agent of the Fiamme Oro Luca Coatafourth with Cassirano del Rilate (0/0; 58.28).
(In the photo Team Italia on the podium in Athens – ph. photobit.net)
