Luciana Diniz and Winningmood. PC: Stefano Grasso/LGCT
There were numerous sweet victories on the sparkling green turf of Chantilly this weekend on the Longines Global Champions Tour, but arguably none more radiant or beautiful than the comeback win for Portuguese rider Luciana Diniz aboard her dear partner, Winningmood.
This is Luciana’s first win at any FEI level since taking a few months off over the winter to recover from a nasty injury when she fell from her horse Lennox at the LGCT of Vienna last fall. She admitted then that she was gutted to miss the end of the tour, and has been fighting ever since to regain her place on the FEI rankings and make her characteristic splash at the top of the sport.
Today was her day, as the Olympic veteran slayed the competition in the jump-off by a full second.
Luciana Diniz and Winningmood take CSI5* Chantilly win
Talk about a winning mood… Wow!
Posted by Longines Global Champions Tour on Friday, July 14, 2017
A Formidable 13 horses and riders went clear in the first round to head to the jump-off, so winning would be no cake-walk.
Scott Brash was the first rider in for round two and proved to be the horse to beat, with all other foes either scattering rails in an attempt to beat him, or adding strides to stay in the top of the money.
But Luciana and her 18-year-old machine-of-a-man Winningmood not only smacked down Scott’s ride by a full second, but also appeared to be reveling in every single moment of it along the way.
Luciana has been one of the highest-ranked females in the history of the sport, and a national treasure for Portugal, and we’re so happy to see this pair back in fighting form against the world’s best!
See the split screen ride between Luciana and Scott here:
More photos from their beautiful round, courtesy of LGCT/Stefano Grasso:
