Victory for Lithuanian

The course designer did not have an easy task today. The starting list of the Big Tour competition, for the prize of LOTTO, counting for the Longines Ranking and CAVALIADA Tour ranking was very diverse. In addition to pairs experienced in higher-rank classes, there were many debuting riders and horses. After 41 rounds, things turned out very interesting. In the end, 10 pairs entered the jump-off.

- The combinations proved to be the most difficult today, especially riding out of the double and triple combinations. It was getting quite tight to both verticals, the City of Sopot's gate on a three-stride line was also challenging. The jump-off itself was very fast and interesting. The first one to tackle it - Sven Gero Hünicke from Germany with MASTERMIND RL, set the bar very high, he rode very dynamically and made short turns, it seemed that it would be difficult for anyone to catch up with him," said Szymon Tarant, Sport Director of CAVALIADA Tour.

Matas Petraitis from Lithuania, riding CORNET'S CLOUD, once again showed the crowd that he can be competitive in this kind of class. We saw his fantastic ride in the Medium Tour Final two years ago at CAVALIADA Poznań. This time he did the same - he put everything on the line and managed to reach for victory.

- The course was at the right level, we saw 10 clear rounds, which is a good number. None of the elements were particularly difficult for me. I really enjoy competing here, I like to come to every CAVALIADA event. As for my horse, we have known each other since he was 2 years old, I have been riding him for a very long time and I believe in him, he is a phenomenal horse," said the winner, Matas Petraitis.

Home athletes did well, finishing just outside of the podium: Weronika Wilska - Czarnecka, Wojciech Dahlke, Małgorzata Ciszek - Lewicka, Aleksandra Kierznowska and Mściwoj Kiecoń.

We saw a surprising knockdown by the runner-up of CAVALIADA Tour ranking - Angelos Touloupis from Greece, who chose a relatively inexperienced horse today. Fans were right to expect a clear round, as the Greek rides exceptionally well this edition of the Tour. Despite the penalties, Toulupis scored points today which allowed him to take the lead in the CAVALIADA Tour.

Finja Bormann from Germany with HOLLAND V.D. VALCKENBORG finished third, and moved up to third position in the ranking.

Results - https://livejumping.com/ap/event/9652/competition/141648

In the Medium Tour, for the prize of Śliwocki Home and under the patronage of Apart, the best one was Petraitis riding LANDO. Second went to Latvia’s Kristaps Neretnieks with TENDER VAN DE KLEIBERG Z, and third to Dawid Skiba with TAMAGOTCHI.

In the morning CAVALIADA Open Tour Silver (110 cm) competition for the prize of Nowy Adres, the winner was Matylda Bejuk Jephcott with CHACCO PERFECT S. Second place went to Julia Tybulczyk riding CASPAR MS, who is also the leader of the CAVALIADA Open Tour ranking. The last place on the podium belonged to Natalia Skibińska with JAMBO.

Immediately after the Silver competition, the CAVALIADA Open Tour Golden (120 cm) competition was held, for the prize of Horse & Business Magazine, under the patronage of the Pomeranian Equestrian Federation. The best pair turned out to be Marcel Wiśniewski and KELVIN NITA. Second place went to Amelia Klimaszewska with COTE D'OR and third place to the leader of the ranking, Julia Koszuta with HELLUM H&H. The final of CAVALIADA Open Tour takes place tomorrow.

Useful links:

Results: https://livejumping.com/ap/event/9652/competitions

Program: https://sopot.cavaliada.pl/pl/kibice/program/program-wydarzenia-cavaliada-sopot-2024/

Tickets: https://tobilet.pl/cavaliada-sopot-2024.html

Rankings: https://sopot.cavaliada.pl/pl/zawodnicy/rankingi

Livestream: https://live.cavaliada.pl/