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<\/p>\nMcMahon has been coming to the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour for years \u2013 and is a real regular in Oliva Nova. \u201cI think this is our 5th or 6th year here, and we keep coming back. It is perfect to produce the young horses,\u201d the Irish rider smiled after his victory.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time McMahon and Hilton Up The Banner win at the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour, the two also went to the top in the 6-year-old final during last year’s Spring MET III and today\u2019s victory was yet another proof of the couple\u2019s consistency. \u201cMy horse was also here for this year’s Spring MET III, he jumped eight times clear \u2013 and was second in the final. Last week I jumped him in the Silver Tour, just for experience and I moved him back in the 7-year-olds this week,\u201d Mc Mahon explained. \u201cI have had him since he was three, and I own him along with his breeder. I think he is a very good horse, a Grand Prix horse in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not many mastered today\u2019s 1.40m course in the 7-year-old final, only four other horse-and-rider combinations joined McMahon for the jump-off. \u201cToday\u2019s course was challenging enough, it was only five clears in the first round. It was a good test for the 7-year-olds,\u201d McMahon said.<\/p>\n
Beating runner-up Ines van den Bosch (BEL) and Zirocco (Zilverstar T x Hamar) by 0.63 seconds, McMahon concluded that it was his tactics at the beginning of the jump-off course that secured him the win: \u201cFrom fence one to two I did one stride less, and when I had that done I just did the same as the others,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Third place went to Luis Plaza-Vidal (ESP) on Mylord\u2019s Bandit Del Keroytin (Edjaz van\u2019t Merelsnest x Caesar van de Helle), while Hannah \u00c5kerblom (SWE) on Hebikdat (Cream On Top x Douglas) finished fourth \u2013 both double clear. With one rail down in the jump-off, Carolina Aresu Garcia Obregon (ESP) and Holisca (Spartacus TN x Ramiro Z) had to settle for the fifth place.<\/p>\n
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In the 6-year-old final, also presented by Dammann Reitplatz- u. Sportplatzbau GmbH, Jane Annett (GBR) took the win with Iwalinde (VDL Zirocco Blue x Corland). Nine horse-and-rider combinations moved on to the jump-off in this 1.30m class, and closest to Annett came Clem McMahon \u2013 0.66 seconds behind on the clock \u2013 this time aboard Legaland Team Spirit (Sandro Boy x Heartbreaker). Third place went to Oleh Krasiuk (UKR) on El Cantaro (El Bundy I x Contendro I).<\/p>\n
Best among the 5-year-old horses, that were tested over a 1.20m course, was Tiara du Cache Pot Z (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Nabab de Reve) ridden by Jessica Geurts (BEL). Almost two seconds separated the winning couple from runner-up Jelmer Hoekstra (NED) on Joselinde L.A.T. (Carrera VDL x Ustino) in this seventeen-horse jump-off. Third place went to Howard Ephgrave (GBR) on Jayley (Don Diablo HX x Phin Phin).<\/p>\n
The fourth part of this year\u2019s Spring MET concludes on Sunday with a CSI3* Grand Prix, before the Tour takes a break over the summer and then resumes with the Autumn MET 2019 in the beginning of October.<\/p>\n