March 10, 2024 
Luciana Lossio (BRA) jumped her first five-star Grand Prix at Wellington International on Saturday night. And won her first five-star title the same evening.
The 49-year-old amateur rider and full-time lawyer bested a four-horse jump off to win the Bainbridge Companies CSI5* Grand Prix with long-time partner Lady Louise Jmen. It was result she never dared dream.
“This is unbelievable for me; I’ve been with this mare for six years and in the beginning I just wanted to jump 1.20m, but we became so much more,” said Lossio of her 14-year-old mare. “We went higher and higher, and today I’m here in my first five-star and winning alongside these riders that I just enjoy watching.
“She’s so confident; she doesn’t change from day to night or from the grass to the sand; she’s perfect,” continued Lossio of Lady Louise Jmen.
Second last to return for Alan Wade’s short course, Lossio shaved four tenths of a second off the leading time set by Nayel Nassar (EGY). It held to the last.
“Friday was International Women’s Day, so I think they may have let me win because of that,” smiled Lossio.
“Tonight was our night. In the warmup, she was telling me, ‘I want to go.’ She’s very strong and I have to be there trying to keep her in my hands because she really likes to jump.”
The pair has contested only nine 1.60m rounds since 2021, according to Jumpr App. But when they do jump the height, they tend to place. The pair has 71% top ten finish average at 1.60m and have landed on the podium three times prior, including a win in the CSI2* World Cup in São Paulo, Brazil in 2021 and the CSI3* World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in 2023.
