Brilliant final of the CSI3* Maeza, with Luca Maria Moneta’s victory in the Grand Prix
The Grand Prix Maeza put a brilliant end to the 2023 edition of the CSI3* Maeza. An exciting jump-off closed the competition with the victory of the Italian rider Luca Maria Moneta, riding “Jolie Coeur D’Avril”.
The facilities of Yeguada Finca Maeza hosted a large audience that came hoping to see a good sport show on the final day of the CSI3*. And the Gran Premio Maeza did not disappoint them. On the contrary, the class kept the typical tension of the Grand Prix throughout the rounds of its 50 participants and increased the intensity in a jump-off in which the six classified riders were looking for the victory from the first to the last obstacle.
And the last obstacle, the vertical of Maeza, was decisive, because the last participant in the jump-off, the rider from San Sebastian, Jesús Garmendia, knocked down in it when he had the victory within his reach with “Callias”. They were the only pair that went under 40 seconds, but the arrival at the last obstacle after a long and intense gallop, was not the best and the pole down deprived the Spanish rider of the victory.
In the barrage, the fastest zero was the one of Luca Maria Moneta, Italian rider living in France, who made up for the inexperience of his mare, “Jolie Coeur d’Avril”, with his experience in high competition. His 40’50 seconds gave him the victory ahead of Eduardo Alvarez Aznar, who used 41’45 with “Enjoy de la Mure”, who jumped brilliantly, but lacked more rhythm to overcome the Italian.
In third place was another Spanish rider, José Bono, who has confirmed in Maeza the good expectations generated around his grey “Alí Babá HT” (41’87).
The Portuguese Duarte Seabra, fourth with “Dourados 2” (43’39) and the Spanish Carolina Aresu with a powerful “Domperignon” (44’00) also came clear in the jump-off.
The director of Yeguada Finca Maeza, Cruz Maestre, was in charge of giving the trophy to the winner of the Grand Prix, Luca María Moneta, closing the day and the competition.
At the end of the competition, Luca María Moneta described the Grand Prix as “very delicate, very technical, but not too big. For me it was lucky, because my mare doesn’t have much experience, she had never ridden in a race of this category, but she has a good feeling with me and we got along well”. Moneta emphasized that “Maeza’s facilities are wonderful, here the nature is magnificent, the temperature for the horse is great and the people are very open”.
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