Eremo Del Castegno, the grand prix gelding ridden by Italy’s Valentina Truppa, has been sold to Brazil.
Valentina, who suffered a serious fall in June last year which left her side-lined from competition for four months with a serious head injury, had recently clocked up good placings at CDI-W Stuttgart (seventh) and CDI-W Salzburg (fourth).
She had looked on track for the Rio Olympics with the now 15-year-old gelding, but the sale was announced at the end of last month – in time for the Rio ownership transfer deadline of 15 January.
Eremo Del Castegno’s new partner will be Jorge Ferreira Da Rocha, a 70-year-old rider, sponsor and long-term investor in dressage in Brazil, who aims to qualify for his home Olympic Games.
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The sale comes amid a flurry of high profile transactions – Denmark’s Anne Van Olst’s recently announced she had sold her grand prix partner Clearwater, while Dutch rider Imke Schellekens-Bartels’ has relinquished the ride on Toots. Both horses are now in Japanese ownership.
Valentina teamed up with Eremo Del Castegno in 2010 and together the pair have four championship caps for Italy. They competed at the 2011 and 2013 FEI European Championships, contested London 2012 – where they finished 15th in the grand prix freestyle – and came 20th in the grand prix special at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2014. They also clinched third place at the 2012 World Cup Finals in s’Hertogenbosch.
The 29-year-old was forced to withdraw from the Italian team for the FEI European Championships in August last year after doctors told she wouldn’t be cleared to ride until September.
She said at the time: “After a fall, which can happen to anyone who like me has dedicated her life to horses, it is most important to stand up again more determined than before.”
