19 year old
Bertram Allen (IRL) made history
today as the youngest rider to win a
Longines Global Champions Tour Grand
Prix since its inception, doing it
in spectacular style after an
intense five-contender jump-off.
With his 17 year old chestnut
stallion, Bertram stormed to the win
with an unbeatable time of 37.32s.
Ranking leader Luciana Diniz (POR)
took second place with the brilliant
Fit For Fun 13, and extended her 36
point lead over Scott Brash (GBR) to
finish the Grand Prix with 218
points, now 44 points ahead. It was
a double Irish podium as Darragh
Kenny (IRL) took the third place and
was elated for his compatriot's
success.
The day began
with hot temperatures and packed
grandstands, with many local and
international visitors turning out
to witness some of the best riders
in the world battle it out under the
iconic Eiffel Tower setting. The
earlier feature CSI5* class saw
Lauren Hough (USA) celebrate the 4th
of July with extra zest, after her
win with Royalty Des Isles in the
1.45 / 1.50m CSI5* Prix Renault
Kadjar.
The 8th Grand
Prix of the 2015 Longines Global
Champions Tour season saw six of the
world’s Top 10 riders competing on
the breathtaking stage of the Champs
de Mars next to the iconic Eiffel
Tower in Paris. With €320,000 in
prize money and 40 valuable ranking
points to the winner, the race for
the championship certainly sent the
mercury levels rocketing as the
heatwave continues across Europe.
The high stakes 1.60m competition
was played out in front of
enthusiastic crowds in the
grandstand and in the park of the
Champ de Mars where a giant TV
screen broadcast the action to the
public who picnicked under the
stunning icon. High profile guests
have included golf champion and
former World No1 Lee Westwood who
enjoyed a round of golf with show
jumping World No1 Scott Brash
yesterday and described the Longines
Global Champions Tour event in Paris
as “very special”.
Hollywood star
Marion Cotillard and her husband
Guillaume Canet watched the
thrilling, high calibre Grand Prix
with their young son. The glamorous
couple chatted with Charlotte
Casiraghi of Monaco, who looked
stunning in a chic black dress, as
they admired the breathtaking views
across the arena to the Eiffel
Tower.
In the evening
heat, guests sipped welcome chilled
champagne and enjoyed fine dining
courtesy of Michelin-starred chef
Alain Ducasse. The extraordinary
show jumping event at the iconic
Eiffel Tower site was a celebration
of culture, art, cuisine and high
style. Beautiful equestrian photos
were displayed in the Longines
Global Champions Tour - Longines
Paris Eiffel Jumping VIP lounges
lining the arena as guests witnessed
the highest level of show jumping
sport.
With riders from
around the world competing in the
prestigious Grand Prix, the stage
was set for the important halfway
stage leg of the Tour. The first
round course was a formidable
challenge with big tests for both
horses and riders from the fourth
fence onwards. The square arena
meant course designer Uliano Vezzani
had plenty of turns and not so many
lines in his design, and fences four
and five were early challenges,
including a wide oxer at 1.55m.
There were four strides to the
double combination with a
significant vertical showcasing a
model of the Eiffel Tower, which was
then followed by a big oxer.
17 clear rounds,
and one 1 time fault penalty rider
went through to the second round,
with four French riders in the mix,
much to the delight of the crowds
who lined the arena walls. Once more
the very best in the sport battled
it out for a place in the jump-off
with the atmosphere intensifying in
anticipation for the electrifying
final round.
Darragh Kenny was
the first to do the double, riding
his 12 year old chestnut gelding
Sans Soucis Z clear in 39.36s. Three
was the magic number, as third to go
Bertram took centre stage for the
final round. With phenomenal pace
and agility he completed the course
in 37.32s, taking a wider angle
towards the vertical on the
penultimate line, allowing him to
keep his impressive pace and bring
home the win. Luciana and Fit For
Fun 13 put in yet another
impressive, careful and passionate
round, and came home just five
tenths of a second off the leader.
Bertram makes
history as the youngest Longines
Global Champions Tour Grand Prix
winner, also his first podium of the
Tour. The next leg of the
championship season will turn to
Estoril, Portugal, where Luciana
Diniz will look to further her lead
at her home Grand Prix.
Juan Carlos
Capelli - Vice President and
International Marketing Director of
Longines: "It’s a great honour
to be here in Paris tonight for this
unique event. Thank you Virginie and
Jan for your support. In 1889
Longines won it’s first gold medal;
that was the year of the Universal
Exhibition and also the year that
the Eiffel Tower was created, so the
story between Longines and the
Eiffel Tower goes way back.
Longines' link with equestrian sport
dates back to the 19th century and
Longines shares many values with the
sport in terms of elegance,
tradition and precision in this
incredible setting, which you have
been in tonight, and it helps the
general public who may not be so
aware of show jumping to see it with
this free event. It’s been packed,
the stands, we couldn’t get a single
extra person in tonight, so that’s
obviously helping to make the French
public aware of what’s going on in
the sport, thanks to you."
Virginie
Coupérie-Eiffel - Event Director of
Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping:
"This creation of the Longines Paris
Eiffel Jumping was a dream, a dream
that I’ve been able to achieve
thanks to the support of Jan Tops
and also Juan Carlos Capelli of
Longines. The first edition I hope
everyone really enjoyed and this
year when you’ve had such a great
first show, you have an obligation
to do an even better one for the
second round and that’s what I hope
I’ve done this year. I hope the
public have enjoyed the show as much
as everyone else here. If you saw
the poster for the show, the horses
actually went up in the lift, onto
the first floor of the Eiffel Tower,
which was absolutely amazing, and we
got some amazing pictures of the
horses looking out over Paris'
wonderful view. I hope the public
had that same great feeling tonight;
to bring high level sport to the
city centre, to people’s doorsteps
free of charge."
Jan Tops -
President and Founder of the
Longines Global Champions Tour:
"It’s really unbelievable what’s
happening with the Tour, throughout
the whole year we have unique
locations, and I think this is one
of the crowns of the year. We can
also see with the numbers of people,
the fan club, who are watching our
live streaming and are all over the
world, it’s growing all the time. I
think the event, not just on
television, but on site, has grown
from last year to this year. There
are even more people in attendance,
and even with the heat they remained
in the tribunes. Also for the horses
and the riders who did an incredible
effort, we must not forget them, as
well as our sponsors, who are very
important, but also our athletes who
give the maximum effort all the time
in this heat, they need real
appreciation. Not to forget the
course builder, Uliano [Vezzani],
who did a great job. I was not
expecting to have 17 clears in the
first round, but he was right in the
jump-off again, five double clears,
he did it with class."
Bertram Allen
- Winner: "I’ve only done a few
Longines Global Champions Tours
because I wasn’t ranked high enough
last year, so to have my first
podium finish and to get on top is
even more special. I have to show so
much appreciation to my horse - 17
years old and trying that hard over
three rounds in this heat and
everything was really special. I
would like to thank Jan and Longines
and everything as well for their
support and again a special mention
to Uliano the course builder - we
have a good relationship, most of
the 5* Grand Prix I have won, Uliano
has built, so I was happy to see him
on the list!"
Luciana Diniz
- Second: "I want to say thank
you to everyone, because without all
of us, you, you, you, the show
organisers, us the riders, the
horses, the vets, the grooms, the
public, all of you, who make this
place so special - I want to thank
all of you and all the horses and
I’m just here today because of this
- thank you.
"I would like to
say a bit of history; my children
always say to me, 'Mum, what is for
you when you go to the shows', and I
say, 'it’s just to love the
challenge of the show', and I say
love 'the challenge of the day'.
When they have their tennis match I
say love the challenge of the day,
so my challenge is to be in the lead
and today my children are very proud
of me and I’m very happy."
Darragh Kenny
- Third: "It’s amazing, these
Longines Global Champions Tour shows
are fantastic, they’re run
brilliantly, everything is super
about them, and to be here in Paris,
I feel very lucky. Longines is a
super sponsor so it’s amazing just
to be here in Paris for this show. I
was really proud of my horse today,
he jumped absolutely incredible over
three rounds. Ok, I was never going
to be as fast as these two, I’m
quite slow, but I’m still trying and
I think Bertram did an amazing job,
and I’m really happy an Irish guy
can win as it was nice to hear the
anthem played. Luciana is always
fantastic and it’s just great to be
in their company."
