Longines GCT: The best show jumping horses in the world are en route to Paris

2 July 2014

The very first Longines Global Champions Tour Paris Eiffel Jumping will be an extravaganza of world-class show jumping, with a major CSI5* class featured each of the three days on the turf of the Champ de Mars. The top international riders in attendance are bringing their very best horsepower to battle it out for the big prizes, including 40 Championship points for the winner of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix.

Championship leader Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS) will have her ever-reliable Ego van Orti, who has been placed well in every LGCT Grand Prix he has jumped in this season. Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson is currently 2nd in the Championship and will bring his in-form stallion Casall ASK, already a Silver medal winner twice this season in Antwerp and Monaco. Last weekend’s LGCT Monaco Grand Prix winner Bassem Hassan Mohammed, 3rd on the leaderboard, will have his winning partner Victoria in Paris.

The home nation, France, are fielding a fabulous team of horses, including Roger-Yves Bost’s European Championship winning partner Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois, as well as Patrice Delaveau’s Orient Express and flamboyant Ornella Mail, Pénélope Leprevost’s Nice Stephanie and Kevin Staut’s Silvana.

The ever-strong German riders are never far away from the podium and every one of them will be tough to beat with the likes of Ludger Beerbaum’s Chaman, Marcus Ehning’s Cornado NRW, and Daniel Deusser’s Cornet d’Amour fighting for the top honours.

British riders Michael Whitaker and Ben Maher will both be hoping to claim their first LGCT Grand Prix win of the season in the French capital with Amai and Cella, respectively. But last season’s Championship 3rd placed rider Laura Kraut (USA) is back in action with her tough little grey Cedric hoping to make a big impact in Paris. USA will also have Reed Kessler’s 2012 Olympic ride Cylana.

Thanks to the City of Paris and new mayor Anne Hidalgo, the streets of the magical ‘city of lights’ are filled with the beautifully illustrated official poster for the event. Thousands of tickets for this inaugural show were snapped up within a few hours of going on sale and the buzz surrounding the return of show jumping to the Champ de Mars continues to grow ahead of the first day of this historic competition on Friday. Watch the LGCT Grand Prix live from Paris on Saturday from 17.30pm local time on GCT TV, Equidia Life, ClassHorseTV and on Eurosport from 20.30pm.

Source: GCT