Spain’s own Julio Arias Cueva and the 10-year-old stallion Filou du Manoir (Salto de l’Isle x Grenat de Grez) won Sunday’s CSI3* 1.50m Oliva Nova Beach & Golf Resort Grand Prix at Centro Ecuestre Oliva Nova, where the second week of Autumn MET II 2025 concluded today.

Ten horse-and-rider combinations cleared the first-round track set by Peter Schumacher (GER) to join the deciding jump-off, where the home nation’s Arias Cueva clocked the winning time of 42.77 seconds.

“I found that it was a beautiful course for the first round, touching all the parts of the arena,” the happy winner analysed afterwards. “I really like when all the turns are with that amplitude. The line to the double of verticals and the last line with the plank were tricky, but it was a nice course to ride. I congratulated the course designer; all the riders had the same opinion.”

Brazil’s Stephan de Freitas Barcha and Dinozo Imperio Egipcio (Diamant de Semilly x Urbain du Monnai) finished a close second, crossing the finish line in a time of 42.83, while Jérôme Guery (BEL) aboard Qartouche de La Pomme d’Or (Vigo d’Arsouilles x Ustinov) completed the podium in third in 42.94. Nicolas Delmotte (FRA) and Fein Lotta DK (By Cera d’Ick x Diamant de Semilly) finished fourth after clocking a time of 44.85, while a fence down in 43.73 left Vladimir Tuganov (PLE) on Conquida de Revel PS (Conthargos x Quidam de Revel) fifth.

“My horse has a huge canter, and I can do less strides everywhere,” Arias Cueva said about his winning mount Filou du Manoir. “I wanted to have a good rhythm and not go crazy. I had bad luck because in the second last turn, we lost a shoe and then I had to do one extra stride to the second last and to the last one. Normally, I could have left out strides there, but luckily, we had done enough in the first part of the course to finish on top.”

“I got him one and a half year ago,” Arias Cueva continued to tell about Filou du Manoir. “He arrived without any experience in the big classes, and it was a little bit hard for him to step up because he is a big horse. When they are big, they need more time to adapt. Now, he is much more mature, and all the work from last year is finally starting to pay off.”

“I come here at least once per season,” Arias Cueva said about the venue in Oliva Nova. “The facilities are clean, everything is well organized, the footing is good and it is easy to manage even a big group of clients.  I will do next week here, and I hope to come back in December. Initially, I was planning to do A Coruña, but I think I will stay here instead – keep my horses happy and wait until next year before we jump a little bit higher.”

Autumn MET II 2025 runs until November 16, followed by Autumn MET III in December. 

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photo credit to © Hervé Bonnaud / www.1clicphoto.com.