ITALY’s Emanuele Gaudiano and Caspar 232 (Casper x Padarco) claimed the win in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Monaco in a gutsy performance in a nine-horse jump-off from 42 starters. A delighted Gaudiano, who was €105,600 richer for the win, said: “For every rider to win a Grand Prix is good, but to win a Global Champions Tour Grand Prix is special – it’s amazing.”

Fans of the stallion Casall ASK will be interested to know that not only did he finish third in the Grand Prix with Rolf Goran Bengtsson, he also sired the runner-up Casallo Z.

Casallo Z is out of a Carthago dam bred by Zangersheide and was ridden by Italian Piergiorgio Bucci.

In addition Casall also sired the ninth placed grey 11-year-old stallion Alicante out of an Indoctro dam ridden by Jerome Guery Again. He featured with a 14th placed Caracas, another 11-year-old grey stallion out of a Colman dam ridden by Jos Verlooy.

He still hadn’t finished since Cristallo ALM, a Casall/Corofino son, was a four-faulter with Julien Epaillard making the stallion the most popular followed by Darco, Diamant and Cornet.

In the feature, both Bertram Allen on Molly Malone V with a fast four-faulter and Denis Lynch boasting a clear on his Quidam de Revel son Quattro Z made it through to the second round top 18, but with no luck in the jump-off, they remained in the money at 15th and 18th places for €1,600 euro each.

Britain’s John Whitaker left his nephew William to win the Hickstead Derby, while he contested the Monaco Grand Prix, finishing fourth with Team Harmony Management’s bay For Pleasure mare Ornellaia for a €32,000 cheque.

“It was a good pay day,” smiled John, who thinks highly of Ornellaia. “The weather is very hot, but my horses have performed well on the GCT circuit and I love Monaco show.” He added: “I have won here before and it is lucky for me. The mare jumped a double clear and I am very happy.”

Cruising was also represented in the Grand Prix by the chesnut mare Mic Mac du Tillard, ridden by German David Will. Always a popular performer with spectators, Mic Mac was 10th overall after kicking out the last fence.

Final rider to go and last year’s Grand Prix runner-up, John Whitaker and Ornellaia (For Pleasure x Calato) joined those through to round two. Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano, Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander, Belgium’s Jerome Guery, Lynch and Ukraine’s Cassio Rivetti were some of the strongest contenders, but it was Germany’s David Will and Mic Mac du Tillard who led the way into the second round.

Round two saw the top 18 return to the sand arena as the floodlights came on.

Both Brash and Renwick were caught out by the double combination, rolling a pole to the groan of the crowd that watched just metres away from the action.

Whitaker set a blistering place with his mare Ornellaia, putting them in prime position for the jump-off, with Nicola Philippaerts, Jerome Guery and Emanuele Gaudiano all looking racy ahead of the final round. Last rider to go, David Will rode at Formula 1 pace, galloping the distances, but the fiery mare Mic Mac du Tillard just got away from him at the final fence, knocking the pole and eliminating them from the last round of competition.

Nine went through to the jump off, with Janne-Friederike Meyer and Chuck 27 (Cassus x Ramiro’s Son II) setting the pace at 40.51 seconds. Bengtsson shaved off a full two seconds to stop the clock at 37.95 seconds. Next to go, Gaudiano and Caspar 232 galloped around the course, turning tight to the fences and covering the ground with the grey horse’s large strides to finish in 36.64 seconds.

Piergiorgio Bucci and Casallo Z pushed to beat the time, but had to settle splitting the top two to finish in 37.37 seconds. Jerome Guery and Alicante looked impressively fast (Casall x Indoctro), but the gallop to the last was too much for the grey stallion and he refused the final fence. Last to go, Whitaker entered the ring with Ornellaia and took some brave shortcuts, with the crowd on the edge of their seats. But the pair couldn’t match the timing of the top three, finishing fourth and handing the win to an ecstatic Emanuele.

As the Longines Global Champions Tour now moves to Paris for the 10th round, currently Bertram Allen, who is world number 10, lies in fourth in the Longines Global Champions Tour standings after Monaco.

Germany’s Christian Ahlmann leads on 209 ahead of Australia’s Edwina Tops Alexander 169, Sweden’s Rolf Goran Bengtsson is on 160 points, with Allen on 154.

Britain’s John Whitaker is fifth on 146, while Monaco Grand Prix winner, Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano, lies sixth on 136.

Tipperary’s Denis Lynch is in 20th on 79 points, while America’s Jessica Springsteen slots into 38th, with Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet on 47.

The Paris leg will be followed by Estoril, Portugal, Valkenswaard, Rome, Vienna and the finals in Doha.

Bertram Allen, who won the Grand Prix in Paris 2015, is returning to defend his title.

NEXT WEEK: Ruth Loney interviews co-founder of the Longines Global Champions Tour Jan Tops, exclusively for The Irish Field