Van Asten makes history with Longines Grand Prix win at Casas Novas

Riding VDL Groep Zidane, van Asten won the feature class Grand Prix event of the winter edition of the International Show Jumping of La Coruña, in doing so he became the first rider to win both the summer and winter Grand Prix events in the same year.

Saturday night’s winter edition saw only three riders manage to achieve clear rounds in the second round. Van Asten was the quickest one of them, with Ireland’s Denis Lynch in second and France’s Olivier Robert in third.

Poles fell easily around the track andmany of the best riders dropped out of contention before the second round which saw Robert Whitaker first to enter the ring. He produced a faultless round as pathfinder before later being joined by 10 other clear riders and one rider on four faults for the second round.

In the end Van Asten secured the victory after two brilliant clear rounds, with his round against the clock of 47.27 seconds being almost two seconds faster than that of Lynch on All Star 5 who topped the clock in a time of 49.02 seconds.

Robert with Quenelle du Py finished in 49.50 seconds for third, with Spain’s Alvarez Aznar proving the best home rider to end fourth after a time penalty in the second round but receiving the Tyco Trophy for the best national rider.

Sunday's 1.55 Azcar Trophy class saw Belgium’s Constant van Paesschen win in the competition which saw an incredible 18 riders go clear to into the final jump-off round that went all the way down to the final rider.

Egyptian rider Karim El Zoghby opened the jump-off with a very fast time of 41.67 seconds, and it looked like it would be hard to beat as one rider after another tried to catch him but without succeeding. Ukraine's Katharina Offel aboard Quebracho Semilly was the first who managed to push El Zoghby down, being 21 hundredths of a second faster.

However Van Paaschen went out second-last-to-go and raced around the shortened track stopping the clock 12 hundredths of a second quicker that Offel to take the win.

There was a better outcome for Offel though in the 1.45 Trofeo Prosegur class.

Riding Charlie, they rode a double clear round, the second of which in a time of 23.76 seconds was nearly a second faster than that of the Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders on Enjoy Louis who finished in 24.52 seconds, with third place going to Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander on Questina in 24.56 seconds.

Ireland’s Shane Breen secured victory in Friday's feature class, the NH Collection Trophy.

Nine riders out of the 38 competing progressed onto the jump-off round after achieving a clear round in the first round.

Only three riders went clear in the final stage with Breen riding Farao van't Vennehof the fastest, negotiating the course in a time of 39.15 seconds.

Runner-up was Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt riding Chico who stopped the clock in 39.26 seconds while third place went to Offel on Charlie with a time of 39.60 seconds.

Columbia’s Carlos López backed up his recent Grand Prix success at the FEI World Cup Western European League event in Madrid by winning the Trofeo Marques de Riscal class against the clock.

Riding Zephyr II, Lopez’s clear round in a time of 60.68 seconds edged out home rider Eduardo Álvarez Aznar on Ryanair Riverland who came through in 61.68 seconds. Third place went to Olivier Robert and Quenelle du Py in a time of 61.62 seconds.