Jordan Coyle, who claimed a victory earlier in the day in the CSI2* Big Tour 1.45m class, Coyle was on the hunt for another win.

Riding full speed across the grass arena, he stopped the clock at 65.45 seconds, taking the lead with his 13 year old bay gelding For Gold. When asked about his win, Coyle explained that he had a good feeling in the arena, saying:

“It’s always nice to win. I think he jumped very well today.” He went on to say, “It’s my first time competing in Europe other than the Dublin Horse Show. It’s really fantastic here. I would like to win all the classes this weekend. I actually have some very good horses here. So fingers crossed!”

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Stockholm Hearts field Peder Fredricson, Olivier Philippaerts, Nicola Philippaerts, Malin Baryard Johnsson, Lillie Keenan and Lily Attwood (U25) again this year.

Valkenswaard United, second in 2022’s GCL Super Cup, will have new-signing Olivier Lazarus joining John Whitaker, Marcus Ehning, Edwina Tops-Alexander, Andre Thieme and talented U25 rider Gilles Thomas.

Rome Gladiators bring in Irish duo Michael Duffy and Trevor Breen along with Jos Verlooy to join Shane Breen, Beth Underhill and Nina Mallevaey (U25).

Other changes

Shanghai Swans have signed up German Daniel Deusser to boost their squad; Olympic Gold Medalist Laura Kraut transfers to Madrid In Motion; Dutch Champion Frank Schuttert joins Georgina Bloomberg’s New York Empire; St Tropez Pirates have a huge shake-up, signing 4 new riders Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli, Katrin Eckermann, Simon Delestre and Marlon Modolo Zanotelli; Jur Vrieling switches to Jennifer Gates’ team, Paris Panthers, while there will be a brand new team for 2023 called Riyadh Blue.

Denis Lynch will be in the New York Empire squad; Tom Wachman is with Mexico Amigos, while his brother Tom is the U25 rider with Cannes Stars; Mark McAuley is part of the Madrid In Motion squad and Jeremy Sweetnam will compete with Monaco Aces.

Jan Tops, President of the LGCT and GCL, said:

“We are thrilled to announce the exciting line-up of the 16 teams for 2023. It will take exceptional team performances to win the GCL Finals and the GCL Super Cup, with incredible prize money on offer. With fantastic U25 talent in the GCL, we continue giving young riders the opportunity to shine at our unique world-class venues.”

The individual championship of the Longines Global Champions Tour will see winners of each LGCT Grand Prix booking a place in the LGCT Super Grand Prix with a €1.25m purse.

GCL kicks off in Doha on 2 – 4 March 2023.

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Meath-based O’Connor beat a 57-strong field to claim victory in the three-star 1m55 Grand Prix at Knokke in Belgium.

Riding the 9-year-old stallion Taj Mahal, O’Connor was among eight riders who made it into the second round jump-off. Only two combinations went double clear, with the Irishman finishing over two seconds faster than Germany’s Kendra Claricia Brinkop who took runner-up spot with Nector Vd Bisschop.

“I was not expecting a win today,” O’Connor said afterwards. “Taj Mahal is still only 9-years-old. It is his first three-star Grand Prix and it’s under lights. I am so happy his previous rider Dieter Vermeiren got to see him win here. He made the horse and I was able to take him to the next level – great teamwork.”

Darragh Kenny second in Monaco

Offaly’s Darragh Kenny claimed the runner-up spot in the five-star Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Monaco, a venue he won at in 2021.

Riding the 13-year-old stallion Volnay du Boisdeville, Kenny was one of just two riders to jump clear in the first round. He was just pipped for victory by Austria’s Max Kühner who finished less than half-a-second faster than the Irishman in the jump-off with EIC Coriolis des Isles. The podium was shared by the same three riders from 12 months ago with Belgium’s Olivier Philippaerts taking third place with H&M Miro

“Second seems to be my position and it’s not exactly where I would like to be” said Kenny. “I have to say Volnay jumped unbelievable today. He has been a great horse for me since I took him over from Teddy Vlock. I was a little slow in the jump-off and that is where I lost it. I definitely knew I left the door open, I did one more stride to the vertical then I would have liked and then I was a little slow to the last and I knew I was behind today and Max made it happen. I knew when I came out the ring he could beat me and that’s not an enjoyable feeling but we will just keep fighting and trying to get that golden ticket.”

Kenny 4th in overall LGCT standings

Although there are no changes in the top two positions of the overall GCT season ranking with Christian Ahlmann (GER) still leading on 210 points and Ben Maher (GBR) in second with a tally of 182 points there has been a big shuffle down the order. Pieter Devos (BEL) jumps up to third on 158 points and Darragh Kenny (IRL) claims fourth place for now with 153 points.

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With the Olympic Stadium packed to the rafters, the Irish rider defeated Daniel Deusser on Jasmien vd Bisschop to take the win by just 0.04 seconds. Local hero Peder Fredricson finished the podium off to take bronze on Catch Me Not S.

“A thrilling jump-off”

Wexford rider Bertram Allen told GCTV after his winning round:

“All the riders have been talking about it all week, how the atmosphere here is literally one of the best shows all year for that. I was very motivated for today and I wanted to make the most of it.”

“It was definitely a thrilling jump-off, it was fast and with Daniel and Peder both having good rounds I knew I had to take a lot of risks. My horse jumped fantastic today so it was nice to come out on top.”

There was disappointment for many of the top riders as poles fell all around the course, especially for Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann who has been placed first or second in every other CSI5* class this weekend but a fast four faults still put him in the top ten with Glamour Girl.

Nine combinations qualified for the jump-off

It was a fast and furious 9 rider jump-off with Petronella Andersson and Cassina Z the first combination to return to the ring. Unfortunately, the pressure got to them and two down kept them out of contention for the win.

Jérôme Guery was the first to go clear with his relatively new ride Azaria Dinero. They threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the field stopping the clock in 36.38 seconds although he didn’t take out a stride in the first line so left room for improvement.

Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Priam du Roset opted to go very tight in the roll back that proved a little too much as he had to pull out, adding four faults to his score.

American Georgina Bloomberg with Tulara Colmine put in a top effort with a smooth and effortless double clear just off the time to beat but good enough for a top 5 finish.

Both Marlon Modolo Zanotelli on Luigi d’Eclipse and Michael G Duffy with Clitschko had a rail down and were forced to settle for a placing outside the top 5.

Daniel Deusser and Jasmien vd Bisschop made an amazing rollback to the penultimate fence, risking it all the pair had full trust in each other and managed to pull it off stopping the timers at 35.96 seconds, a time that for a while looked unbeatable.

Winner of this class in 2019 Peder Fredricson wanted to make it a home win on the final day of action onboard Catch Me Not S. They gave it everything fully determined but couldn’t quite match the pace of the speedy German falling just behind him in 36.38 seconds.

Bertram Allen and the huge-striding Pacino Amiro then powered around the course and were exactly level with Daniel at the halfway stage. They sprinted down the final line and took an angle to the last, shaving milliseconds off the time to take the win in 35.92 seconds

The Longines Global Champions Tour head to Paris for round 9 of the Championship from 24 – 26 June.

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The Tipperary man clinched victory by half a second from Offaly’s Darragh Kenny and Vinci de Beaufour.

Third place in the jump-off went to German rider Katrin Eckermann and Cala Mandia.

A delighted Lynch praised his horse, saying:

“The horse has been in great form recently. To win here is really great and I am delighted with him. It is a great class to win, Cristello is very impulsive, a real fighter and trier so we work well together.”

Ten clear rounds

From the international field of 32 contenders, there were 10 clear rounds that made it into the jump off. First to return to the ring home hero Marcus Ehning and A la Carte NRW. They jumped clear and set a time of 38.46 seconds. Darragh Kenny swifty knocked him off top spot with Vinci de Beaufour to stop the clock in 36.99 seconds.

Young talent Andrzej Oplatek and Conthinder opted for a slightly steadier pace counting on a double clear to help them stay in the placings. While it started to unravel for Pieter Devos after he clipped the Longines oxer and misjudged the side to the final fence causing a refusal and collecting 18 faults, in the end, to rule themselves out of contention.

Though many top-class international riders tried to better Kenny’s performance, all failed until his fellow Irishman took to the arena.

Lynch and Cristello cleared every fence, with the pair shaving milliseconds off the time. They flew towards the last to stop the clock in 36.47 seconds, to take the win, and give Irish riders a 1-2 in Berlin.

The Longines Global Champions Tour and GCL team series now moves to the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London from 13-15 August 2021.

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The Irish combination beat off many of the world’s top horses and riders to claim the top prize of almost €100,000.

Kenny, who only took up the ride in April of Idalville d’Esprit, was one of just six to qualify for round two.

Drawn last to go, they produced an unbeatable clear in 37.89 seconds.

Austria’s Max Kühner finished as runner-up with Eic Coriolis des Isles in 38.07 seconds. Belgium’s Olivier Philippaerts took third place with H&M Legend of Love, clocking 38.66 seconds.

Earlier on Saturday, Kenny had also topped the podium in the Global Champions League of Monaco for his Paris Panthers team. His win in the GCL Grand Prix now means he has booked his place in the Prague Super Grand Prix final later this year.

The County Offaly native said of his Monaco success:

“My horse felt fantastic! I have been a bit unlucky recently having one down in my recent Grand Prix. I said to my owner last week that I just need to ride him better and he jump better and all weekend he was fantastic. He loves this ring in Monaco. I was just thinking about today and I just wanted to do a good job for him.”

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The decision was taken by the organisers due to what they describe as “these exceptional circumstances”. With restrictions on travel varying from country to country, all riders would not have the freedom to compete in the global competition, while the risk of a second wave later this year is also being cited for cancelling the Tour.

Jan Tops, founder and President of LGCT and GCL, said:

“We sincerely thank our event organising partners, our Title Partner Longines, the GCL team owners and our partners around the world for their tremendous support and understanding. None of us could have foreseen the scale of this global emergency and the suffering so many people are going through.

“Our priority must continue to be the health and safety of our fans, our staff, the athletes and their teams and those living in the locations of our events. So it is with great regret we have decided to cancel the remaining shows this year.

“Now we must all pull together to build a positive future after the pandemic, adapting and adjusting to deliver incredible sport in 2021 and beyond.”

The decision to cancel has been welcomed by Neil Moffitt, owner of the London Knights team, winners of the Global Champions League championship for the past two years:

“As a Founding GCL Team Owner this is the right decision as it is more important to maintain the integrity and quality of the League than to try to stage a few shows this year in this extremely challenging and uncertain environment. GCL is not a one-off event, it is a prestigious Championship with knock-out stages like the Champions League in Europe. We look forward to continuing our successful campaign in the seasons ahead.”

The aim is to start the Longines Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League top-level show jumping championship series afresh in 2021.

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