John Whitaker claims the Grand Prix of Spain

The big event of the day was the Grand Prix, from fifty starters there were only seven clears but another ten on four faults. In the overall GCT standings Rolf-Goran is the joint leader after two legs together with Michel Robert both on 33 points, while Edwina is third on 26.

The second day of competition at the Global Champions Tour of Spain began with a 1.40 speed class. Always popular with the crowd, the riders often err on the side of caution to start but on this occasion only ten riders had been before Italian maestro Gianni Govonni galloped in on Love Affair. Well known for his determined style in this sort of class, his own tenacious will to win was well matched by his 10 year old mare.

Absolutely flying, the pair tore through the finish five seconds faster than anyone else had managed and made every the other riders chase their time. With 40 more of the worlds best left to jump retaining the lead did not look entirely likely and of the three that went faster, none were clear. Unluckiest of those was Robert Whitaker who rode an outstanding round on giant Casino only to tap out the last, although he was a half second faster. In the end Gianni held on and repeated his Arezzo victory in a similar class.

However the big event of the day was the Grand Prix. From fifty starters there were only seven clears but another ten on four faults.

In the second round the course was equally big but an innocuous vertical at 2 and a plain oxer with a 1.70m spread at seven causing as many problems as any. Michel Robert (Kellemoi de Pepita), Jos Lansink (Sea Coast Silvana) and Edwina Alexander (Itot du Chateau) all put pressure on the top seven with second round clears to show it could be done and the first of those to attempt a double clear was John Whitaker with Peppermill.

When he finished without further penalty but six left to jump, observers were fully expecting a third against the clock jump off but one by one the challengers failed to match their first round scores. Jose Larroca (Royal Power) hit fence seven as Robert Whitaker on his British Open winner Lacroix.

Rodrigo Pessoa's Let's Fly failed to do that at the first part of the double and Steve Guerdat and Ferrari felled part of the combination. That only left Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson to make a fight of it. And Ninja la Silla who had jumped so well in Arezzo did leave every fence intact but his rider had slightly misjudged the time and the clock stopped showing one time penalty. So the title then went to John Whitaker with Rolf-Goran second and Edwina Alexander making a spectacular rise from 9th to take third by virtue of her very fast clear on Itot du Chateau.

In the overall GCT standings Rolf-Goran is the joint leader after two legs together with Michel Robert both on 33 points. Edwina is third on 26 and Robert Whitaker 4th with 23.

The last day sees two more GCT classes both of which carry FEI ranking points and also the Grand Prix of the 2** show which is running concurrently.
In the overall GCT standings Rolf-Goran is the joint leader after two legs together with Michel Robert both on 33 points. Edwina is third on 26 and Robert Whitaker 4th with 23.