The Brazilian rider guided Vitiki to a clear, flat-out jump-off round, winning the CSI5* Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix—the first five-star Grand Prix victory either one of them had ever claimed.
A last-man chase decided by seven-tenths
Eight combinations returned for the jump-off inside a packed Longines Tops International Arena. Christian Ahlmann went first and rolled a rail; Annelies Vorsselmans then laid down the initial clear round in 38.85 seconds on Trezeguet. Mansur followed and shifted the pressure entirely, driving Vitiki through every line without a fault to stop the clock at 37.27 seconds.
The closest threat came from Belgium’s Pieter Devos, who threw Casual DV Z at the shortened course as the final challenger. He came home clean in 37.97 seconds—seven-tenths too slow. Olivier Philippaerts and Arne van Heel also jumped clear but never approached the winning time.
Eighteen years old, a first five-star prize
Mansur and Vitiki’s partnership began almost a decade ago, rising from 1.35m classes to the top of the sport inside a single season. In 2018 a heavy fall in Aachen shattered Vitiki’s right front pastern. Surgery saved his life but delivered six months in a stall, 45 days in a cast, and a career shadowed by a shorter stride and diminished scope.
The gelding fought back to five-star height in 2021, then lost more ground to a nose tumour and a mechanical drift that shortened his step further. Still the pair rebuilt: second in the Grand Prix of La Baule in 2022, fourth at the FEI World Cup Final in Omaha in 2023. Now, at 18, Vitiki is jumping fewer rounds but clearing half of his 1.60m starts.
“I’ve had so many good chances and could never finish the job… finally,” Mansur told reporters, his voice carrying the weight of the years. “Especially with my favourite horse, it is even more special.”
The win also handed Mansur a ticket to the LGCT Super Grand Prix. A decade after they started, the old Hanoverian’s name is finally stamped on the heavy trophy.
