MADRID, 17 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish rider Eduardo Álvarez Aznar is clear that the Longines Global Champions Tour show jumping event held in Madrid is “always” marked in red on his calendar and he is hopeful of defending his current leadership and “maintaining the same line” as in the three previous stops, recognizing that a victory would be the best of his career, “especially highly anticipated.”
“Madrid always is (an event marked in red) for me. Being able to have an event like this, being able to compete in a Longines Global Champions Tour test in your city and in the club where I started riding since I was little, is a privilege,” said Álvarez Aznar in an interview with Europa Press at the Villa de Madrid Country Club, the place where he grew up in the world of horses and which has hosted the event since this Friday.
The man from Madrid does not hide that “you always notice the pressure here”, but also that you have the public that supports you, who have also been coming here for many years to support us and follow this sport. “I am really looking forward to it now the weekend,” admitted the leader of the jumping rankings this season.
The Olympic rider understands the praise heaped upon the Villa de Madrid Country Club, “a historic track.” “This is the 113th edition, there is the tradition that this competition can have. And the international impact that it has had throughout its history, that the best riders in the world want to continue coming here, not only for the track, which is magnificent, but for the rest of the facilities it has, which for the horses, the grooms and everything around, is what makes this event so great,” he stressed.
Álvarez Aznar also does not forget that it is a setting that marks the horse because “there are a lot of people” and because of “the atmospheric noise around.” “Many times the entrance hallway seems very long until you reach that green track, but the horses jump very, very well, the ground is fantastic and the jumps are very impressive, the horses can normally jump very well,” he explained. .
The Spaniard is “very happy” to be number one in the ranking after a “very good start to the season.” “In the three venues where I have competed (Doha, Miami and Mexico City) I have had very good results. I have to try to leave here with the best possible position and try to continue maintaining that leadership,” he commented.
“This year everything has started very well. I have recovered one of my main horses, which is ‘Rockefeller’, which is the one I am going to compete with here and I hope that in Madrid it can be at the same level because it is a track that already knows well because he has competed here many times. I want to try to maintain the same line as the other Longines Global Champions Tour competitions,” warned Álvarez Aznar.
For this reason, and after being second and third in the capital, “of course” a victory would mean the best of his career. “And above all expected. To be able to win on this track that is very important to me and is very special. This year I would love to be able to do it as soon as possible,” wished the Madrid native, who does not forget that “it has been many years” without any Spaniard won the Madrid Grand Prix since Cayetano Martínez de Irujo did so in 2000. “Let’s hope this year to see if any Spaniard can be at the top,” he said.
THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR FATHER’S FIGURE
Álvarez Aznar warns that, due to the quality that exists on this circuit, knowing who is the favorite “is not an exact science.” “Here anyone can win. Everyone who competes is prepared to do so, here it is not like in other sports, where perhaps the number 200 in the ranking is not capable of beating the 3 or 4, but here yes, here the one who “Have a good day is the one who wins, in equestrian anyone can beat you,” he remarked.
This event will also be key to deciding which Spanish riders will go to the Paris Olympic Games, which for Álvarez Aznar would be the third after those in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. For the man from Madrid, this road to the French capital “is long”, but he celebrates having “to date three horses classified”.
“Madrid is one of the important events, it is one of the great tests we have to select all the riders and horses a little. Let’s hope that the deadline arrives and that they put us on that team,” stressed the Madrid native, who dreams with something important in Paris because he has “more experience and the horse is also much older.”
And on the horizon would be approaching or improving the sixth place of his father, Luis Álvarez Cervera, in Los Angeles 1984, the best individual result since then. The figure of his father has had an effect on him “in stages”, but now he notices above all “her trust in him and his daily support” of him. “Since I was little he has been helping me and above all giving me the motivation to dedicate myself to this sport, which is a way of life, it is not just practicing a sport, it is being surrounded by horses, which is part of my life,” he highlighted. .
“And I have to thank him for everything he has done for me all this time and for continuing to help me to this day. Being able to have a person like that by your side, the truth is that it is impressive,” added the rider, who above all In order to surpass his father with a medal, he prefers to stay with “the trip” that they have been taking “together for a long time.” “And above all the day to day, which is what really matters, and that he continues to help me. He is very involved, he is a key piece in all these results that I have managed to achieve with all this time,” he said.
“A VERY GOOD RIDER WITH A NORMAL HORSE IS VERY COMPLICATED FOR IT TO WIN”
Regarding the role of horses, he is clear that “it is very important”, but that “marking an exact percentage” when it comes to their impact on the results is “difficult.” “I’d say 70 horse and 30 rider might be a fair percentage,” he ventured to say. “A good horse with a normal rider can win, but a very good rider with a normal horse or one that jumps above his abilities is very complicated,” she pointed out.
However, Eduardo Álvarez Aznar encourages fans to go to the Villa de Madrid Country Club to see “the Formula 1 equestrian event, with the best horses and the best riders”, highlighting that in the capital it is already a consolidated event because “There are many fans and followers who are very regular” and where you can also “have a good weekend” and “enjoy a sport that is beautiful and outdoors.”
In this sense, Eduardo Álvarez Aznar admits that equestrian “has grown a lot” in Spain, where there is “the best international competition.” “I would say that at a global level. We have two of the most important in the world, such as Montenmedio or another that has been born new called Moura Tours, in Valencia. And practically from January to November we have the largest number of international competitions” , he explained.
“And then the federation has created a high-level national competition league and it is being noticed. More and more riders and more horses are coming out and we notice that we are all more prepared to take the step to this great circuit such as the Global Champions Tour.” , said the Madrid native.