Italy's number one Grand Prix horse, Valentina Truppa's Eremo del Castegno, has been sold to Dr. Jorge Ferreira da Rocha from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The horse has been sold in time for the FEI ownership transfer deadline of 15 January 2016 in order for it to be eligible to compete under a different flag at the Olympics.
Eremo del Castegno is a 14-year old Italian warmblood by Rohdiamant out of Weltgirl (by Weltmeyer). He is bred in Italy by Guerino Boglioni and was listed as owned by Valentina's equestrian centre Centro Equestre Monferrato.
Valentina Truppa and Eremo del Castegno made their international Grand Prix debut at the CDI La Mandria in March 2010. They skipped the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, citing that the insurance coverage for the flight to the U.S.A. was an issue, but represented Italy at the 2011 European and 2013 European Championships. They contested the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where they finished 15th in the Kur to Music finals. At the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen, they were 20th in the Grand Prix Special. Their career highlight was a third place at the 2012 World Cup Finals in 's Hertogenbosch.
After making a bad fall off a younger horse in June this year, Truppa missed out on the European Championships. She rode the 2015 Italian Championships but withdrew in the warm-up before the Special. This autumn they showed at the CDI-W Stuttgart and CDI-W Salzburg.
Eremo del Castegno has now been sold to the 70-year old Jorge Ferreira Da Rocha who aims to qualify on the Brazilian team for the 2016 Olympic Games in his home country. Rocha's last international competition was in October 2012 at the CDI Sao Paulo, where he rode Valentino G to a 64.00% score in the Grand Prix.
Photos © Astrid Appels
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