Flawless Spanish victory in Longines Invitational Grand Prix

Enrique Camiruaga Rueda and Vintage earned the most important victory of the Andalucía Sunshine Tour 2022, managing zero faults in the 1.60 jump-off.

The winner of the GP Invitational has referred to his achievement as a “lifetime dream”, earning a well deserved victory in the final event of the Andalucía Sunshine Tour 2022. With Vintage, he was the only rider capable of ending the course designed by Uliano Vezzani with no faults. 

“It was a very nice course but very complex, in which both rider and horse had to give their maximum. From the first moment I noticed that Vintage was working great and that he felt very comfortable on the track. He has done an excellent job, I am very satisfied and very proud of him.” -Enrique Camiruaga Rueda

Third Spanish rider to win this title

The Spanish rider now dreams of competing with the national team worldwide, a dream that is a bit closer now after his incredible victory in the Sunshine Tour. The Spanish anthem had not been played in the equestrian facilities of Montenmedio for the Longines Invitational Grand Prix since 1999, when Fernando Sarasola and Ennio won. 

The first Spanish to win the Longines Invitational Grand Prix was Enrique Sarasola, in 1995. Now Camiruaga is the third Spanish rider to earn the title. 

Second place went to another Spanish rider, Santiago Núñez Riva, and to Valentino de Hus Z. He finished the course with four points and in 74.27 seconds. British rider James Wilson came in third place. 

Dominique Hendrickx wins the Diputación de Cádiz Trophy

The Belgian rider earned his third victory of the Andalucía Sunshine Tour in the Diputación de Cádiz Trophy with Floris. He beat the other 16 riders on the jump off in 39.02 seconds. Floris TN is currently owned by Jamal Rahimov and Karina Rotenberg, and the duo only started working together a few months ago. 

In November the horse and rider combination started working together as they had their first important appointment in Montenmedio. However, the rider has been able to take the reins of the situation and solve it with great solvency, specially as they achieved the third position in the Big Tour, adding this important victory. 

Besides the Diputación de Cádiz Trophy, the rider had achieved two important first places: in the Small Grand Prix on the third week and in one of the Rankings. He has also achieved other successes with younger horses, marking a great season for the Belgian rider. 

Portuguese rider Rodrigo Almeida signs new victory

Rodrigo Almeida has finished first with Elvic V/H Hoeve-Terras in Friday’s Big Tour 1.45m. So far, the pair has achieved two first places: one on the Medium Tour 1.40 this past Thursday and the other in last week’s Big Tour 1.35m. 

This time however, they have stepped up their game and achieved excellent results, becoming the fastest in completing the second phase of the test, marking 29.96 seconds on the clock. However, as over one hundred horses participated, the prizes were doubled. This means the Portuguese rider shared the first position with Irish Jason Foley and CNOC Rua Chinook. 

The Longines Invitational Grand Prix concluded the 28th edition of the Circuito Hípico del Sol, a record-breaking show jumping edition with a total of 950 riders, 3.300 horses, 60 represented countries and 2.3 million euros distributed in prizes. 

Images from Sunshine Tour's website