Elated
Luciana Diniz said her “dream came
true” today as she claimed her first
Longines Global Champions Tour Grand
Prix win.
Scott
Brash is back on top of the
championship ranking for the second
time in the 2015 season. But the
British rider, on 73 points, is only
four points ahead of Luciana who has
rocketed up to second place in the
overall ranking.
In one of the most unpredictable
Grand Prix in the history of the
Tour, many of the world’s top riders
stacked up uncharacteristic faults
and time penalties. For the first
time since 2011 there was no jump
off.
Tens of
thousands of passionate fans lined
the arena and filled the grandstands
in the beautiful Spanish country
club in anticipation as the Longines
Global Champions Tour Grand Prix
presented by Caixa Bank got
underway. But no-one would have
predicted the extraordinary story
that unfolded today as top rider
after top rider clocked up “cricket
scores” with multiple faults, time
penalties and retirements.
The sweeping grass arena and the
course designed by Santiago Varela
Ullastres proved to be unusually
challenging for many of the
combinations. In the first round the
Longines combination caught out some
of the maestros including Christian
Ahlmann. But the mistakes were all
over the course and not isolated to
particular obstacles pushing riders
like Ludger Beerbaum, John Whitaker
and Ben Maher firmly out of the
running.
After the
first round there were only four
clear rounds - Jane Richard Philips,
Philippe Rozier, Luciana and
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum. Scott
Brash’s Olympic gold medal mount
Hello Sanctos stumbled slightly
before the first fence and had an
unusual rail down but Scott went on
to a clear in the second round
putting him in fourth place overall.
The second round delivered
fascinating twists and turns. Jane
Richard on Pablo de Virton was
unable to remain clear and ended on
eight faults. Meredith
Michaels-Beerbaum on Fibonacci 17
lost her chance when she had a rail
down for four faults.
Spanish rider Manuel Fernandez Saro
thrilled the home crowd riding a
double clear on Enrique of the
Lowlands but picking up unfortunate
time penalties during both rounds.
His third place on the podium was
greeted with loud cheers from the
crowd around the arena.
France’s Philippe Rozier went clear
in the first round on Rahotep de
Toscane and was heading for a
penalty-free double clear when he
picked up a time fault to put him in
second place.
So
it was down to the last rider
Luciana and her stunning grey
Winningmood to deliver the coup de
grace. As the crowd fell silent
Luciana and the 16-year-old
stallion, a tried and tested
long-time partnership in show
jumping, delivered a superb clear in
60.24 seizing first place on the
podium and a prize purse of
€105,600.
It was a
night when strong long-term
partnerships paid off, with Luciana
and Winningmood and Philippe and
Rahotep de Toscane taking the
honours on a balmy night in the
Spanish capital.
Press Conference:
Alvaro Arrieta Konyay, CEO of
Oxer Sport
"Congratulations to the winners,
they did great performances here
tonight. First of all I want to
thank the Longines Global Champions
Tour for its confidence and thank
Jan Tops for trusting our horse
show. Thanks also to the City
Council and the Club de Campo Villa
de Madrid.… It’s a special place,
there has been a lot of tradition
here for 105 years . A unique mix of
an historic very old show and an
innovative concept of competition
such as the Longines Global
Champions Tour. I always say that
it’s like a patchwork of a black and
white picture and a color picture.
Amazing performance, top sport,
perfect atmosphere, the riders have
tried their best and I’m very happy
with the results."
Jan Tops, Founder and President
of LGCT
"It's great to see a Spanish rider
on the podium today, and also
fantastic to see Philippe Rozier,
who has come in as a wild card, on
the podium also. It is good to see
that someone from the outside who is
not directly in the top ranking has
the chance to be able to compete on
this level. Of course, Luciana has
had a great partnership with her
horse for years, so coming to this
grand finale as the only double
clear is very, very special. To
mention our partnerships, this year
is our tenth edition and it's great
that my friend here Alvaro and Oxer
Sport has been working with us since
the start, and we have had the trust
and confident to build together what
we have over the years. So I'd like
to thank them and the Club de Campo
Villa de Madrid for this long term
relationship."
Luciana Diniz, Winner
"First of all, as Jan said,
everything in life is a question of
partnership; I have developed a
partnership with this horse and I
can only thank him, thank Edouard,
thank my team, thank my family who
support me at home and who are
watching the television now - they
are sitting there and cheering for
me. I thank the public who really
support me, the whole organisation
who makes this possible. So a dream
came true today and I'm very very
happy. I want to thank you all;
everyone.
"This morning I read something, not
by chance, that said happiness is
the way you achieve your dream, not
just when you achieve your dreams,
but in the way of achieving them.
This gave me a lot of trust to
believe that I could do it. It gave
me a lot of confidence today and I
felt so good; I started the morning
by saying I feel good and it really
was an amazing day. I felt a lot of
energy which gave me a lot of power.
So this win was a response to all
these things I've been doing."
Philippe Rozier, Runner-up
"It’s a dream for me today. I have a
super horse. He is young, I have
been lucky enough to ride him since
he was 5 year-old, it’s his first
Grand Prix today within the Longines
Global Champions Tour the last 6
Grand Prix so far with him are clear,
I feel 20 years old again tonight!."
Manuel Fernandez Saro, Third
place
"I’m proud, especially in Madrid in
my own country. It’s an unbelievable
feeling. I am very happy with the
horse because it’s the first time we
do a 5* Grand Prix, and we win! I am
extremely happy."
Scott Brash, LGCT rankings leader
"Today was a bit strange; my
horse stumbled on take off at number
one, so we jumped straight through
the first fence which was just one
of those things. You can't help a
stumble on take off, and it doesn't
happen very often. Then he jumped
super and in the second round he was
fantastic. So I was slightly
disappointed, just with what
happened, but I was really pleased
with the horse overall as he jumped
fantastic. I think the course
builder has done a great job; we
always love jumping here in Madrid
as it's a fantastic venue, so I'm
delighted to be jumping here and I'm
delighted to be heading the series
at this moment in time."
