An elated Luciana Diniz said her “dream came true” on May 2 as she claimed her first Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix win in Madrid.

“This morning I read something, not by chance, that said happiness is the way you achieve your dream. It’s not just when you achieve your dreams, but in the way of achieving them,” Diniz said. “This gave me a lot of trust to believe that I could do it. It gave me a lot of confidence today and I felt so good; I started the morning by saying ‘I feel good,’ and it really was an amazing day. I felt a lot of energy, which gave me a lot of power. So this win was a response to all these things I’ve been doing.”

French rider Philippe Rozier, who was a wild card rider to qualify to compete in the Madrid GCT, claimed second place while Manuel Fernandez Saro of Spain took third. Laura Kraut was the top U.S. finisher in ninth with Cedric after one rail in Round 1 and a clear go in Round 2. Kent Farrington was 16^th on Voyeur with rounds of 4 and 16 faults, while Lauren Hough and Ohlala had 4 faults in Round 1 and didn’t qualify for Round 2, finishing in 27^th.

Scott Brash is back on top of the championship ranking for the second time in the 2015 season. But the British rider, on 73 points, is only four points ahead of Diniz who has rocketed up to second place in the overall ranking.

Luciana Diniz on Winningmood. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCT

In one of the most unpredictable grand prix classes in the history of the Tour, many of the world’s top riders racked up uncharacteristic faults and time penalties. For the first time since 2011 there was no jump-off because Diniz was the only rider to put a clear round on the board in both rounds.

Thousands of passionate fans lined the arena and filled the grandstands in the beautiful Spanish country club in anticipation as the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix presented by Caixa Bank got underway. But no one would have predicted the extraordinary story that unfolded today as top rider after top rider clocked up “cricket scores” with multiple faults, time penalties and retirements.

The sweeping grass arena and the course designed by Santiago Varela Ullastres proved to be unusually challenging for many of the combinations. In the first round the Longines combination caught out some of the maestros including Christian Ahlmann. But the mistakes were all over the course and not isolated to particular obstacles, pushing riders like Ludger Beerbaum, John Whitaker and Ben Maher firmly out of the running.

After the first round there were only four clear rounds—Jane Richard Philips, Philippe Rozier, Diniz and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum. Scott Brash’s Olympic gold medal mount Hello Sanctos stumbled slightly before the first fence and had an unusual rail down but Brash went on to a clear in the second round putting him in fourth place overall.

“Today was a bit strange; my horse stumbled on take-off, so we jumped straight through the first fence, which was just one of those things,” Brash said. “You can’t help a stumble on take-off, and it doesn’t happen very often. Then he jumped super and in the second round he was fantastic. So I was slightly disappointed, but I was really pleased with the horse overall as he jumped fantastic.”

The second round delivered fascinating twists and turns. Philips, on Pablo de Virton, was unable to remain clear and ended on 8 faults. Michaels-Beerbaum on Fibonacci 17 lost her chance when she had a rail down for 4 faults.

Spanish rider Manuel Fernandez Saro thrilled the home crowd riding a double clear on Enrique of the Lowlands but picking up unfortunate time penalties during both rounds. His third place on the podium was greeted with loud cheers from the crowd around the arena. 
”I’m proud, especially in Madrid in my own country. It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Saro said. ” I am very happy with the horse because it’s the first time we do a five-star grand prix.”

Manuel Fernandez Saro was thrilled with his third place aboard Enrique of the Lowlands. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCT

France’s Philippe Rozier went clear in the first round on Rahotep de Toscane and was heading for a penalty-free double clear when he picked up a time fault to put him in second place.

“It’s a dream for me today. I have a super horse. He is young, I have been lucky enough to ride him since he was 5 year-old, it’s his first Grand Prix today within the Longines Global Champions Tour the last 6 Grand Prix so far with him are clear, I feel 20 years old again tonight!.”

So it was down to the last rider Luciana and her stunning grey Winningmood to deliver the coup de grace. As the crowd fell silent Luciana and the 16-year-old stallion, a tried and tested long-time partnership in show jumping, delivered a superb clear seizing first place on the podium and a prize purse of €105,600.

“Everything in life is a question of partnership,” said Diniz, who has been riding Winningmood for six years. “I have developed a partnership with this horse and I can only thank him, thank [owner Edouard de Rothschild], thank my team, and thank my family who support me at home and who are watching the television now—they are sitting there and cheering for me.

“I thank the public who really support me and the whole organization that makes this possible. A dream came true today and I’m very, very happy,” Diniz said.

You can find complete results of the Longines GCT Grand Prix of Madrid here.

While U.S. riders didn’t break into the top three of the headline class, there were some familiar faces in some of the other classes at the GCT Madrid. Darragh Kenny, the Irish rider based in the United States, won a 1.45-meter speed class in the five-star division on Sunday, May 3 aboard Belle Rock.

Alexandra Crown of the United States topped a 1.45-meter class in the two-star division of the show with her Von Cim and Emma Hiese won a CSI** 1.25-meter class on her Victoria IV. 

Alexandra Crown thanked Von Cim after their CSI** win at the Longines GCT Madrid. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCT