San Patrignano’s CSI5* closet with a Dutch victory 

Thrills and surprises for the over 4000 spectators on hand for the “ Vincenzo Muccioli Challenge Acqua Uliveto Grand Prix”, final class in the three day San Patrignano CSI5*. The two protagonists who kept the crowd on the edge of their seats were Rolf Ludi and Heiner Fischer, course designers that challenger the forty riders, letting only ten pass through to the jump off. The most difficult jump was a vertical made of planks, 1.6 meters high right in the center. Some of the best riders made errors at this obstacle, like favorite Belgian rider Jos Lansink, Germany’s Marcus Ehning and San Patrignano’s own Jerry Smit.

The final day of the San Patrignano’s CSI5* begins with the “Antonveneta” prize, mixed category for seven year old horses. 

The horse and rider team which were able to best complete the courses designed by Rolf Ludi and Heiner Fischer, with fences 1.45 meters high, was their yellow Swiss, Steve Guerdat. Currently ranked twentieth on the FEI ranking list, Guerdat rode the Belgian Gelding Brustor Boy of Kannan to a double clear and a time of 34.73, impressively cutting all possibile corners and maintaining accuracy. Second place went to Gerco Schroder, 9th worldwide, on Eurocommerce Baltimore, an up and coming Dutch horse. Third place went to another Dutch duo, Marc Houtzager on Utopie.

Govoni raises the red white and green on San Patrignano’s CSI

Finally an Italian victory at the 12th CSI5* in San Patrignano. The national anthem was played as Gianni Govoni was the winner of the eighth class, next to last of the event. The progressive difficulty class with “jolly” fence sponsored by Aams proved difficult for many. Govoni went clear for 65 points and 44.06 seconds. The Modenese rider took up the challenge set down by Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum on Goldfever, leaders up to that point in the class. He lead Zamar Love Affair through a “Govoni style” course, in other words, “no holds barred”. His approach proved to be winning one, as he beat the third place Beerbaum by three full seconds (47.19).