Jérôme Guery’s clear aboard Garfield de Tiji Des Templiers put the St. Tropez Pirates in pole position ahead of Saturday’s GCL Final. Ph. GCL/Stefano Grasso
The Global Champions League battle for the French Riviera on June 8th, saw a night of high drama with an upset from the home team the Cannes Stars and a victory from the St Tropez Pirates as they stole the pole position in Thursday night’s first round competition.
The powerful performance by the Pirates was due large in part to the much needed clear round from Jérôme Guery.
“I’m really happy. I knew I’d have to ride clear [for us] to stay in the competition as I had a little pressure on me, but I’m really happy with my horse.”
Teammate Simon Delestre agreed the team’s efforts had propelled themselves into the best possible position.
“It’s good to be in the lead, and we knew we had to jump clear to be in with a chance,” shared Delestre. “We have a very good team spirit – we are good friends and we want to fight for each other.”
Uliano Vezzani’s course was a tough test, with multiple fences causing problems throughout the night’s event. Making full use of the space, Uliano’s winding circuit featured signature gappy oxers and a colourful treble across the diagonal line.
The biggest challenge however was the penultimate fence; an imposing full height stack of planks, featuring a colorful image of a yacht which caught the eye of many horses resulting in multiple refusals.
First to fall victim to the planks was Cascais Charms rider Nicola Pohl and Rowan (Animo x Landadel), after a double refusal eliminated the team from the rest of the competition. The fence caused trouble throughout the field, after home team rider Ludger Beerbaum of the Cannes Stars followed suit with Chacon (Chacco Blue x Aventyno), as did Chantilly Pegasus’ Lucy Davis with Cassis 54 (Candidatus x Landadel).
“We knew we had to jump clear to be in with a chance.”
Daniel Deusser of the Shanghai Swans also had a first refusal with the 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood SX Hidalgo v. (Quadrillo x Andiamo). The pair would eventually save the team from elimination but a course total of 14 faults dropped them down to 10th overall.
Despite the difficulties that many experienced on course, several riders shone with clears coming from Miami Glory’s Scott Brash, London Knights’ Ben Maher and Shanghai Swans’ Roger-Yves Bost.
A young star to shine was Evelina Tovek of the Mexico Amigos, who rode clear with Castello (Cristallo x Lifestyle) but unfortunately picked up a single time fault. However, teammate Christian Ahlmann would accrue an unusual 13 faults with the 14-year-old stallion Colorit (Coriano x Capitol), moving the team down to 8th ahead of Saturday’s final.
Doha Fursan Qatar’s strategy of consistency once again paid off, with Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani and Bassem Hassan Mohammed collecting four faults apiece to put them on a team total of eight faults.
In second position heading into the final, the Fursan will be hoping for another podium result, with the overall GCL ranking battle closer than ever.
Current leaders Hamburg Diamonds would finish in 11th, after Harrie Smolders and Jos Verlooy picked up eight faults each.
Following not far behind are long-time leaders Valkenswaard United who, after a strong 5th with Alberto Zorzi and Janika Sprunger, will be hoping to leap ahead and back to the top of the league rankings.
The result of Thursday’s test will see teams now planning their strategy for Saturday’s Round 2 showdown. Now, tactful decisions of which horse and rider combinations to field to gain maximum advantage will be paramount to turn the tide of current scores on the Côte d’Azur.
The GCL Cannes final will kick off on Saturday 10th June, at 18:30pm local time. For the full results of Thursday’s Global Champions League Competition, please click here.
Source: Global Champions League