June 28, 2023 
If you were to place a wager on who would win Wednesday’s Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe 1.55m, the first 5* class of 2023 CHIO Aachen, Yuri Mansur (BRA) and Miss Blue-Saint Blue Farm wouldn’t have been a likely first choice.
A year ago, the Brazilian-bred mare by Chacco Blue was only jumping 1.30m.
On Wednesday, she delivered the biggest win of the Brazilian Olympian’s career.
“This mare is just unreal,” said Mansur. “She is still very inexperienced and so what she has achieved this evening is just amazing. I was one of the first people to import horses from Europe to Brazil at the beginning of my career. I am now the one promoting Brazilian bred horses, and my mare is the best example of how talented they are!”
Miss Blue-Saint Blue Farm (formerly Miss Blue Mystic Rose) made her international debut with Mansur in 2022, highlighted by a second place finish in a 4* 1.40m class and 75% clear round average over eight rounds at the height (Jumpr App).
Come 2023, their track record has been consistently credible. The pair has collected podium finishes at 5* events nearly every month since January, including a 1.50m win in April at LGCT Miami, FL, a third place 1.55m finish in Hamburg, GER in May, and second place 1.60m finish in St. Gallen, SUI, in June.
Wednesday’s win was their hardest fought yet. Fifty-three combinations contested Frank Rothenberger’s 14-fence first round under the lights of CHIO Aachen’s iconic Hauptstadion. Just seven managed to find a clear path to advance to the short track.
First to return, Swiss rider Edouard Schmitz and 11-year-old gelding Gamin Van’t Naastveldhof set the time to beat at 42.43 seconds with a double clear only to have Mansur and Miss Blue shave two tenths of a second off (42.27s). Switzerland’s Alain Jufer and Germany’s Richard Vogel, Philipp Weishaupt and Gerrit Nieberg attempted to catch the time, but collected rails along the way, leaving only Martin Fuchs (SUI) and Conner Jei. The 2022 World Cup Final winner had the clear, but not the time after a slip at fence two, crossing the timers in 42.78s. Only five tenths of second separated the podium.
The win is Mansur’s first at CHIO Aachen.
“This win is so special,” said the emotional rider.
“In 2018, I came to Aachen for the first time, and I was clear in the first round of this competition, but in the second round things did not go as we wanted them to. But day by day, I’ve worked hard and wanted to be the best. Every year I have returned to Aachen and we have got better and better, and now I have won a class. This is the biggest win in my career.”
