Barcelona Grand Prix: A knockdown on the final jump prevents Sophie Hinners from winning

She looked like a sure winner—right up until the very last second: Sophie Hinners and Iron Dame’s Kaleni Jo raced through the second round of the Barcelona Grand Prix in such a way that one had to assume the pair would Triuamph Wins the Global Champion Tour Stage in Vienna would repeat the feat. Already in the first round, Hinners had posted by far the fastest time—71.37 seconds—and had remained faultless. Even in the B course, it looked as though no one could take the victory away from the two of them until the very last obstacle, a lofty yellow vertical jump. The ambitious 10-year-old daughter of Kannan was clearly determined not to make any mistakes. Agile and skillful, she managed time and again—even at that high speed—to maneuver her hind leg just over the poles so that none of them fell.

But just before the finish line, during the landing phase of the final obstacle, the pair finally made a mistake. The scoreboard showed four penalty points and a time of 45.68 seconds. That was 1.3 (!) seconds faster than the eventual winner, Britain’s Jessica Mendoza, had needed. She had already won the opening jump of the League of Nations Finals with In the Air, a son of Air Jordan. In the Grand Prix, she crossed the finish line in 46.94 seconds—and did so flawlessly. That sealed her victory.

The Fast Gangster

Richard Vogel was the fastest in the B course. Riding his World Cup horse Gangster Montdesir, “Richie” was lightning-fast in the second jumping round. He finished in 46.29 seconds; only Sophie Hinners was faster. However, Vogel carried over a jumping fault from the first round into the second, so it wasn’t enough to secure the top spot.

Rodrigo Pessoa took second place in the Barcelona Grand Prix riding the 13-year-old Major Tom. The son of Vagabond de la Pomme remained clear in both rounds and clocked 47.06 seconds in the second round, finishing twelve hundredths of a second behind Jessica Mendoza.

Third place went to Cian O’Connor and Kentucky by Verdi. The clock read 47.737 seconds as he crossed the finish line with a clear round. This put him 0.17 seconds ahead of his compatriot Denis Lynch riding Brooklyn Heights by Nabab de Reve, who clocked in at just over 48 seconds.

German Trio

The top German rider was Kendra Clarica Brinkop with Replay van’t Paradijs. The nine-year-old Belgian stallion by Bamako de Muze did not knock down a single rail in either round. However, she incurred one time penalty in each round, allowing Brinkop to finish in sixth place ahead of Hinners and Vogel, who placed seventh and eighth, respectively.

By the way, the weather cooperated—no rain that evening. The real highlight is coming up on Sunday. The first round of the Longines League of Nations final will begin at 12:00 p.m. with all four team riders. Three team riders will then compete in the second round starting at 2:45 p.m.

Results from Barcelona