KILDARE’s Niall Talbot was in top form winning last Sunday’s Suzuki Grand Prix CSI** at the Autumn MET in Oliva Nova, Spain, snatching victory as second last to go in the ring aboard the 12-year-old gelding Caracter.

Weather conditions were perfect for the third CSI** 1.45m Grand Prix of this year’s Autumn MET. “The conditions here are fantastic; all the horses are jumping really well on this ground,” said Talbot about the Oliva grass ring that hosted the Grand Prix. With 18 out of the nearly 80 competitors qualified for the jump-off, no fewer than seven were Irish.

As second last in the ring, Talbot took all the risks needed to secure the win – leaving out strides nearly everywhere around the shortened track. The clock stopped on 37.06 seconds, and with this, Talbot pushed his compatriot David Simpson on the 12-year-old mare Chessy 17 down to runner-up position with just 0.52 seconds separating the two.

“The course for the jump-off really suited my horse, because it was long and open,” said Talbot. “I left a stride out from the first to the second fence already, to open up his gallop. Then, in the first round the five strides after the triple combination to the vertical was a bit short for my horse because he is quite big – so in the jump-off I went for one less [from the combination] and did four strides, and that worked out good. To the last, they were mostly going on eight and I went down there in seven – and I think that is where I won it,” he added.

Talbot’s winning mount Caracter, a Holsteiner gelding by Carano x Liatos, is like a part of the family. “I have had him since he was eight, and he is owned by my father-in-law. This year he has won some national Grand Prix classes, but today was his first international Grand Prix victory – so we are really happy about that!”

On whether or not the first round track resulted in too many clear rounds, Talbot commented: “There were almost 80 starters, so around 25% were clear. It was quite a few, but in a Grand Prix like this, you have some more experienced riders and some less experienced ones and it has to be fair for everybody. It was a nice, fair course in the first round – but perhaps the time allowed could have been a little tighter.”

With six riders producing second clear rounds, the Grand Prix turned out to be difficult enough however and accompanying the two Irish riders for the top three was Switzerland’s Edwin Smits on one of his best horses, Copain du Perchet CH, with a time of 38.27 seconds in the jump-off. Thomas Ryan continued the success for Ireland to finish fourth, while Germany’s Kai Schäfer ended up in fifth.

Swiss-based Niall Talbot added: “It is a great tour. We have been coming since the beginning, from the first year. People are starting to talk more and more about Oliva, and the good conditions here. The surfaces are fantastic, the facilities, the stabling and the organisation – everything is really good. And for sure the nice weather helps! It’s build up a really good reputation, so a lot of people are starting to come here.”