IRISH riders made a positive impression over the weekend, with Meath’s Cian O’Connor and Derry’s Jordan Coyle both securing podium positions in the opening class, as the five-star Longines Global Champions Tour returned to Mexico City for the second round of this year’s competition, with classes running from Thursday through to Sunday at Campo Marte.
Thursday’s opening five-star Trofeo The Years of Culture 1.45m two-phase class saw a start list of 54, of whom 31 had a fault-free first round and booked a place in the second phase. Here, an impressive 19 managed to negotiate the course without penalty, with time being the ultimate decider. What was even more impressive was that two of these were Irish riders and they both secured podium places. Last to go in the jump-off, O’Connor rode Coolmore Showjumping’s Genghis Khan into the runner-up position, when double clear in a second phase time of 29.92, closely followed by Coyle on King Kannan GP, owned by Elan Farm, in third in a time of 30.32. The pair were pipped to the top spot by Belgium’s Jerome Guery riding Careca LS Elite, whose time of 29.18 proved unbeatable.
O’Connor then claimed a fantastic second runner-up finish on Saturday, when he and the 10-year-old gelding Genghis Khan placed second in the 45-strong Trofeo Banorte 1.50m jump-off class. Fourteen combinations jumped clear first time out to make it through to the timed decider, with 11 of them maintaining a clean sheet. O’Connor set a competitive time of 37.44, but that wasn’t quite fast enough to catch Eugenio Garza Perez, who scored a home win for Mexico, when riding Chalouries PS to a double clear round in a jump-off time of 36.55. Simon Delestre (FRA) completed the podium on Olga van de Kruishoeve in third.
Jordan Coyle and Elan Farm's King Kannan GP were third in last Thursday's opening five-star class, a 1.45m two-phase competition, at the Mexico leg of the Longine Global Champions Tour \ Ljuba Buzzola LGCT
Top 10 placings
On Friday, the Trofeo Banorte Global Champions League (GCL) Individual competition, a 1.60m speed class, saw two Irish riders place in the top 10. Kilkenny’s Susan Fitzpatrick was best of them, when she rode the 10-year-old mare Lovely Stassi PS into fifth place with a clear round in 80.54 - one of only five clears in the class - with Coyle on Chaccolino finishing in seventh place from the 23 starters. Brazil’s Eduardo Pereira De Menezes and H5 Londontime won the class in a time of 73.64 seconds.
In the first of the GCL team competitions, a 1.60m speed class, the New York Empire team finished fourth and comprised of two Irish men, namely Max Wachman with Fancy De Kergane and Michael Pender on HHS Calais (ISH) (Cavalier Royale x MHS OBOS Cruise by OBOS Quality), bred by Ita Brennan, who both rode clear rounds. At that point, the Istanbul Warriors sat in first place, while another Irish man, Ciaran Nallon riding Casalla Blue PS was part of the Riesenbeck International team in 10th place, along with Christian Kukuk (GER) on Checker 47.
Teamwork
The second GCL team competition was a 1.55m speed class and it saw a change at the head of affairs, with St Tropez Pirates claiming first place, relegating Istanbul Warriors to second. The New York Empire team maintained their fourth-place position, after Wachman and Fancy De Kergane completed a double clear, while Pender rode HHS Los Angeles (ISH) (Le Roi x China Cavalier by Cavalier Royale), bred by Marion Hughes, to finish on four faults. Riesenback International moved up to fifth place after round two, with Nallon and Kukuk both riding clear rounds. Looking at the individual results in the class, Kukuk secured first place in a time of 69.98, with Nallon placing fourth in 75.29 and Wachman in sixth place on 75.90.
In the overall standings, St Tropez Pirates currently hold the lead on 43 points, ahead of Valkenswaard United in second place on 37.5 and Istanbul Warriors are third on 36. New York Empire sit sixth on 31, with Riesenbeck International just outside the top 10 in 11th place on a score of 25. With 13 of the 15 legs still to go, it’s all to play for.
Fitzpatrick claimed another top-10 finish in Saturday’s Trofeo GNP Seguros 1.45m speed class, when she rode Valisco PS into 10th place of the 18 starters, with a clear round in 75.43. The win went to Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano on Nikolaj de Music in a fast time of 61.29.
Sunday’s Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix yielded no top-10 placings for the Irish, with the closest being O’Connor, who rode Ulysses clear in the first round to be one of 11 in the jump-off. The pair collected eight faults second time out, which put them into 11th place from a start list of 40. Piergiorgio Bucci took the win for Italy on board Pallieter vd N.Ranch with a double clear in 43.68, claiming the top prize of €144,276.
After the first two legs of the Tour, O’Connor currently sits in fourth place on 59 points, with Katrin Eckermann (GER) the current leader on 77.