Written by guest Caroline McCoy
The Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Cannes, presented by Haras des Grillons, is an extraordinary equestrian event that is a regular fixture to the Tour. Held through June 9-11th, thousands of visitors flocked to see the daring feats of international show jumping. The biggest attraction, however, was the Cannes 2016 CSI5* 1.60m, which started at 8:30 (USA, Los Angeles Time) on Saturday, June 11th. This class had Two Rounds with Jump-Off, 1st and 2nd Round Against the Clock. Uliano Vezzani, the course designer, set a massive 1.60m Grand Prix round with tall verticals, gaping overs, tight rollbacks, and tricky lines. Each fence required an experienced eye and ultimate precision as the horse-and-rider combination jumped their way through the course. Only eight jumped clear, with the other ten accumulating time faults or knocking rails to make up the eighteen going into the second round. The second track rode more straightforward, due to the fact that there were three double combinations in contrast to the triple combination in the first round. Many riders rode excellent rounds and kept poles up, but only the top four riders could advance to the jump-off. Two new fences were added along with some tight turns and concluding with the Longines double, followed by the final over and across the finish line. The first rider, France’s Roger-Yves Bost on Sangria Du Coty , produced a spectacular clear of 40.52s, which delighted the home crowd. Next at the gate, Germany’s Daniel Deusser and Equita Van’t Zorgvliet barely passed Bost with a time of 39.32 seconds. Edwina Tops-Alexander and her spunky mare Lintea Tequila twisted and used her supreme agility to slip into the lead with a time of 38.67s. Last, but certainly not least, Scott Brash and Hello Forever skillfully maneuvered the tricky course with a blazing time of 37.98s. As the pair nailed the distance to the final fence, the crowd were on their feet applauding the brilliant round. Tops-Alexander described her second place finish as “Going to the second fence I saw the distance that I needed, which is what Scott had, and I just couldn’t get it, I gave as much as possible but I knew when I came out that it wasn’t enough – he’d have had to have had one down for me to end up winning. He deserved it, he gave maximum effort today.” The 2012 Olympic gold medalist, Scott Brash, now sits 22nd with 64.00 total points. The top three LGCT Riders are Christian Ahlmann with 209.00 points, Edwina Tops-Alexander with 143.00 points, and Bertram Allen with 132.00 points. Next in this star studded Grand Prix Tour, Monaco Event 9 is a highly anticipated event on June 24th-26th. Stay tuned for results. See globalchampionstour.com for rankings, photos, dates, and more concerning the LGCT.
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