ONLOOKERS were treated to three days of top-class show jumping as the Longines Global Champions Tour moved to Monte Carlo, Monaco at the weekend. Irish riders gave a good account of themselves at the top level, with Tipperary’s Denis Lynch securing two top-five placings on different horses and Susan Fitzpatrick performing well for her Scandinavian Vikings team on board Lovely Stassi PS.
Thursday’s first Global Champions Tour individual competition, a 1.60m speed class, saw Michael Pender place eighth with HHS Cyprus, when they picked up a single time penalty. Seven of the 19 starters kept all the poles intact, with Martin Fuchs (SUI) on Fortjump du Beaumenil taking the win in the fastest time of 63.32 seconds. Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt on Oreo DR finished exactly a second behind in 64.32 for second place, with Kristen Vanderveen (USA) on Bull Run’s Jireh completing the podium in third in 65.07.
In the first GCL team competition, a 1.60m speed class, Ireland’s Susan Fitzpatrick rode Lovely Stassi PS to a clear round for the Scandinavian Vikings team. Her team mate, Jur Vrieling on Grand Slam VDL, also jumped clear, to put the team in second place after round one, with the Prague Lions in the lead at the halfway stage. Remarkably, Fitzpatrick and Vrieling stopped the clock in exactly the same time of 70.96 to place equal ninth individually.
The second GCL team competition saw a change of fortunes and a change to the placings, when Fitzpatrick and Lovely Stassi PS picked up four faults second time out, while Vrieling incurred nine faults with Sydney Jeckson for a team total of 13 faults, putting the team in sixth place at the finish. Riesenbeck International (Maximilian Weishaupt and Marco Kutscher) claimed first place with the fastest zero score, ahead of Madrid in Motion (Maikel van der Vleuten and Kim Emmen) in second, also on a zero score, and Shanghai Swans (Christian Ahlmann and Max Kuhner) completing the podium in third on a final score of four.
Following the eighth leg in Monaco, Riesenbeck International are in the lead on 161 points, with Prague Lions in second on 132 and Istanbul Warriors in third on 126.
Double clear
In Friday’s five-star 1.50m Prix Federation Equestre de la Principaute de Monaco jump-off class, Lynch and the 10-year-old stallion Chicago placed fifth, while Pender rode his home-bred nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Madgeslane Louis into 10th. The 40 starters were reduced to nine for the jump-off, where Lynch was among the five who jumped double clear (39.03). Kristen Vanderveen (USA) on Starbucks 27 won the class in a jump-off time of 33.78.
Lynch recorded another top-five finish in Saturday’s five-star 1.45m Trophee Monte-Carlo Societe des Bains de Mer - Casino de Monte Carlo speed class, this time riding the 17-year-old stallion Cordial into fourth place with a clear round in 53.33. Belgium’s Pieter Devos on Jarina J won the class in 51.26.
The 40-strong five-star 1.60m Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco saw no Irish in the top 10, with Brazil’s Stephan de Freitas Barcha riding Dinozo Imperio Egipcio into first place to secure the €198,000 top prize.
The overall leaderboard after leg eight sees Pender as best of the Irish in seventh place on 117 points, followed by Cian O’Connor in ninth on 105. Abdel Said (BEL) is the current leader on 167, with Max Kuhner (AUT) in second on 159 and Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS) in third on 138.67.