Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander and her new young horse Vleut delivered an impressive performance overnight to win the Equita Masters at the 5 star show in Lyon, France.

Her first Grand Prix riding Vleut, the combination proved a winning formula for Tops-Alexander, who has been competing with Vleut since August this year.

Currently ranked eighth in the world and leading the Global Champions Tour, Tops-Alexander has had an impressive season on the international Jumping stage and proving her 2012 Olympic Games campaign is well on track.

The Equita Masters features the best of the best, with the top 12 riders from the FEI Rolex world rankings  along with the current World Champion Belgian Philippe Le Jeune and Boyante de Muze taking part in the event.

Tops-Alexander and Irish star Denis Lynch, were the only two riders to jump clear in both rounds, with the Aussie star recording a faster time on 52.14 seconds to claim victory.

Heading into the Equita Masters Tops-Alexander was unsure as to which horse she would be riding.

“At first I did not know which horse I was going to jump, but then I decided to save Itot du Château for tomorrow (Sunday), for the World Cup.

“It’s my first Grand Prix with this horse and at the age of 9 he is still quite young. He already participated in a few Grand Prix at two or three star level, some with Maikel van der Vleuten and some with Eric van der Vleuten, but this was his first class at 1,60m.

“The course today was rather delicate than massive… there were some big jumps and big, wide oxers… I had several options for some lines, and for me it was great, I’m very happy with the result.”

Tops-Alexander will line up in the Rolex World Cup Jumping in Lyon tonight (local time) riding her number one horse Itot du Château, with the final of the Global Champions Tour taking pace in Abu Dhabi, UAE – November 24-26 2011.

Equestrian Australia