Maria Eilberg produced the best results of the British contingent competing in the first leg of the 2009 Spanish Sunshine Tour. The competition takes place at Vejer de la Frontera in Spain over three consecutive weekends from 24 February to 15 March.

 

Maria rode Lynne Crowden’s 16.3hh seven-year-old black stallion Woodlander Rockstar (pictured) to victory in three tests: the owners’ class junior prelim test, owners’ class junior riders team championship test and owners' class junior prelim test.

 

Maria’s dad and trainer Ferdi said: “The horse has never made a big trip like this before. He was so well behaved and is enjoying the work.”

 

In the big tour, Maria also took fourth place in the grand prix with Two Sox, but Ferdi was most proud of her achievements with Sharon Baldwin’s 12-year-old 16.2hh bay stallion by Jet Set D, Pro-Set.

 

“Maria took over the ride last summer and this is their first outing. They finished twelfth in the grand prix because he was spooking as it was his first time in the arena, but he redeemed himself by finishing second in his first ever special.”

 

Judy Harvey and Richard Heley’s 16.3hh gelding Fitzcerraldo won the intermediaire II while Anna Ross-Davies and Nancy Bowles’s 16.2hh 12-year-old Dutch-bred gelding Pegasus took third in the prix st georges.

 

For the full results, please visit www.sunshinetour.net.