Photos: Stefano Grasso / LGCT
An impressive eight out of the world’s
top 10 ranked riders will be competing at the first European
leg of the 2016 Longines Global Champions Tour. World Number
One, Simon Delestre (FRA) will be in action at the
sensational city of Antwerp, with World Number Two, and
current LGCT Ranking leader Christian Ahlmann (GER) bringing
one of his top horses, Codex One, and World Number Three and
two-time LGCT Champion of Champions Scott Brash (GBR)
looking to move up the leaderboard with his Olympic Gold
Medal winning horse Hello Sanctos. 2015 saw Simon steal the
show with his stunning horse Ryan Des Hayettes and the
prestigious Grand Prix win, and this year sees him pull out
all the stops and show strong intentions with top horses
Qlassic Bois Margot and Hermes Ryan both in attendance.
Also looking to do battle at the sensational opening
European event will be World Number Four, Penelope Leprevost
(FRA), with Kent Farrington (USA), local rider Gregory
Wathelet (BEL), Bertram Allen (IRL) and Kevin Staut (FRA)
rounding out the top ten riders in the world.
Currently Germany’s Christian Ahlmann leads the LGCT Ranking
points, just eight points ahead of Great Britain’s John
Whitaker (GBR) .who will head to the Belgian city of Antwerp
with his talented mare Ornellaia. Hot on their heels is
young talent Jos Verlooy (BEL), fresh from his LGCT Silver
Medal in Mexico City and looking to capitalise on his third
place in the rankings at his home Grand Prix. Sheikh Ali Bin
Khalid Al Thani (QAT), Emanuele Gaudiano (ITA), last
weekend’s LGCT Grand Prix of Mexico City winner Roger-Yves
Bost (FRA) and Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS) will also be
looking to improve on their top ten position at this early
stage of the season Tour.
Belgium will host many of it’s best riders, with both Nicola
and Olivier Philippaerts (BEL), Pieter Devos (BEL), Niels
Bruynseels (BEL) and Gudrun Patteet (BEL) joining Gregory
Wathelet and Jos Verlooy for the sparkling event. Germany
too has a strong showing, with legend of the sport Ludger
Beerbaum (GER), Marco Kutscher (GER), Daniel Deusser (GER),
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER), Philip Houston (GER) and
Hans-Dieter Dreher (GER) looking to do battle at the third
stop of the Tour.
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE), Jessica Springsteen (USA),
Lauren Hough (USA), Laura Kraut (USA), Ben Maher (GBR),
Patrice Delaveau (FRA) and Harrie Smolders (NED) are just a
selection of the world class names that head to the diamond
district, showcasing the high calibre of competition on the
world's premier show jumping series. So far the Tour has
seen spectacular events in Miami Beach and the inaugural
Mexico City, with nail-biting action that left audiences on
the edge of their seats around the globe.
With the bar being raised ever higher each season, there
will be no room for error as the 2016 Championsh .ip battle
picks up pace. Leading riders from France, Germany,
Switzerland, the United States, Ireland and Qatar will be
represented along with top names from Australia, Brazil,
Canada, Sweden, Portugal, Spain and the UK.
The CSI5* action will kick off at 20:50 local time on
Thursday 21st April, with the Longines Global Champions Tour
Grand Prix of Antwerp taking place on Saturday 23rd April at
18:45 local time. Sunday will see the third round of the
exhilarating new Global Champions League team competition
get underway. For information on the League, please click
here.
For a full rider list, please click
here. For a full show schedule, please click
here.