With just three horses remaining in the first round of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Puebla (MEX), it appeared as if there might be a jump-off of 4-fault performers.
Through 17 combinations, there was yet to be a clear effort over Marina Azevedo’s (BRA) 1.60m track. The group included to top ranked rider from Mexico, Nicolas Pizarro (MEX); defending champions Manuel Gonzales Dufrane (MEX) and Hortensia van de Leeuwerk; and the current national champions of Mexico, Federico Fernandez (MEX) and Davidoff.
Then Jose Saavedra Garcia (MEX) entered the arena for his World Cup debut and kept all of the jumps up. No one else could replicate the feat, giving the 24-year-old and his 13-year-old stallion Maximus took a memorable victory. “From the moment I jumped the first fence, I knew my horse was going to have a great round, so I just had fun.”