France’s Patrice Delaveau receives the trophy for winning the 5* (1.55m) class of theLongines Global Champions Tour here yesterday. Right: A rider in action at the Longines Global Champions Tour at the Al Shaqab arena here yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil
Patrice Delaveau of France on the 12-year-old bay Ornella Mail HDC won the first 5* (1.55m) Class of the Longines Global Champions Tour final leg as competitors settled into the beautiful surroundings at the magnificent Al Shaqab arena here yesterday.
Delaveau (42.40s) won the 14-rider jump-off with a clear round ahead of Harrie Smolders of the Netherlands, who finished second on Regina. Belgian’s Constant van Paesschen came third on Citizenguard. The last year’s tour champion Edwina Alexander Tops of Australia on her Erenice Horta came fourth (43.73s).
Qatar’s leading rider Sheikh Ali bin Khaled al-Thani and his eye-catching mount Sieshof’s Abraksas picked up an unfortunate time fault in the first round of this evening’s class. Speaking about the Longines Global Champions Tour staging its final leg of 2013 at Al Shaqab, Sheikh Ali said, “It means a lot for Qatar because we always want to improve the sport. The GCT is a big name to have for Qatar and it is good for the Global Tour to come here. It is very important because the shows are unique in the world, they always do it in the best places and always the best riders come to compete.”
The build up to tomorrow’s Grand Prix is underway with tension mounting as riders aim for ranking points to grab a podium place in the overall 2013 championship. At least 25 of the world’s Top 30 riders will be competing over the next three days in the final leg of the season.
Earlier in the day, Italy’s Juan Carlos Garcia and his swift mount Paulin won the opening 5* class. Current European Champion Roger Yves Bost on Castle Forbes Cosma was just 0.4s behind in second place while Germany’s Johannes Ehning finished third on his Cayenne.
There was early success in the event on home soil for Qatari riders Hamad Ali Mohamed al-Attiyah and Faleh Suwead al-Ajami, who finished at fourth and sixth, respectively.
The opening 5* class saw the best horses and riders on the planet compete at the world-class Al Shaqab equestrian facility in Doha. Yesterday’s class provided an early chance for the world’s finest riders and horses to warm up ahead of the competitions today and tomorrow. The colourful fences in the vast 120m x 80m sand arena were at 1.45m for the 2* which were later increased to 1.50-1.55m for the 5* class of the competition.
With the final Grand Prix of this year’s Tour to be held tomorrow, the eyes of the equestrian world will be on the top riders and their mounts here in the Middle East.
Tomorrow’s Longines Global Champions Tour Final will have a prize pot of €450,000 with an additional €1million shared among the highest placed riders of the season – the overall Champion receiving the lion’s share. The key contenders for the 2013 title all performed well yesterday evening making it impossible to pick the potential overall champion.
Al Shaqab, part of the Qatar Foundation, is hosting the Longines Global Champions Tour for the first time and the leading riders have already been praising the fantastic facilities at the state-of-the-art venue.
Al Shaqab Director Fahad Saad al-Qahtani said: “We are blessed with this facility which can showcase what we are doing. Basically, the sky is the limit with Al Shaqab. The Global Champions Tour is one of the most prestigious events globally. Having the finals here is also a bonus.”
The spectacular setting saw some great results from the home riders Sheikh Ali bin Khaled al-Thani, Bassem Hassan Mohammed, Mubarak Yousef al-Rumaihi and Faleh Suwead al-Ajami and Hamad Ali Mohamed al-Attiyah.
The first day of the event also saw a large number of young Qatari riders take part in 2* competitions in the main arena with onlookers keen to watch the equestrian talent of the future in action.