The Longines Global Champions Tour stopped at Cascais, Estoril on July 9-11 and Scott Brash edged closer to the lead in the series by topping his third Longines GCT Grand Prix of the season riding the phenomenal Hello Sanctos.
Brash took the extraordinary win under floodlights in the big grass arena, which delivered sporting drama as many of the top 30 riders retired or were eliminated in the €300,000 grand prix.
Speaking after his victory Brash said: “Sanctos loves Estoril. He jumped phenomenal again today. He’s just a wonderful horse and it’s a privilege to be riding him. I need to enjoy him while I have him as he’s one in a lifetime. We’ve got a great team behind us; great owners, great horses, great staff and this is very important to our success. You only see me sitting here but there’s a massive team behind us and it’s thanks to all of them that we’re doing well this year.”
Brash recently announced that Hello Sanctos won’t be available to serve on the British team at the upcoming European Championships, choosing instead to focus the gelding on completing the Rolex Grand Slam at Spruce Meadows in September.
Though Brash has won three of the GCT events, Portuguese rider Luciana Diniz still tops the overall series standings. Brash is 32 points behind Diniz, who in Estoril had 4 faults in the second round to the dismay of her many fans in the Portuguese crowd.
“The public in Estoril are incredible: they give me energy, they jump with me, they live the round with me,” Diniz said. “It’s very, very special. I was very motivated so I wanted to be on the podium tonight. I’m very happy to be still in the lead. Scott and I will do our best and give you a good time in the next weeks, so watch us and enjoy!”
“Scott is pushing harder and harder every week. Now he is on Luciana’s heels and I think they are the two to watch until the end of the season in Doha. Of course there are still 5 more legs to go and anything could happen,” said GCT founder Jan Tops.
See Brash’s jump-off round versus Abdullah al Sharbatly…
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Only a short distance from the shores of the Atlantic, it was a truly international field starting in the grand prix with 16 nations represented, including competitors from Japan, Morocco, Mexico and the Ukraine. The challenging but fair course, designed by Frank Rothenberger, allowed many of the world’s top combinations to showcase their talent and agility, as the packed grandstands watched in anticipation. The first round saw many top names, including Daniel Deusser of Germany and Lauren Hough of the United States fail to go through, over what was a full on international track with fences at maximum proportions, including spreads of 1.70 meters that would test any champion combination.
Despite the stiff test, 15 clears went through to the second round, with three more on 4 faults, and the scene was set as the action moved up a gear.
During the second round the high Mercedes vertical caught out a number of riders including Diniz and Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani of Qatar. Ludger Beerbaum jumped a masterful round on the incredible Chaman but uncharacteristically miscalculated the time allowed and picked up a time penalty.
Just four went through to the jump-off, as the floodlights lit the arena. In the end Brash topped the podium with Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Sharbatly in second and Ireland’s Greg Broderick in third. Christian Ahlmann of Germany was the fourth rider who qualified for the jump-off however was unlucky when his grey stallion Cornado II knocked out one of the bricks in the wall.
Broderick is an Irish rider who spent the winter showing in California and then jumped for Ireland in Nations Cups at Lummen, Belgium and La Baule, France. “I was delighted with my horse and that I was given the opportunity to come and jump here after we jumped double clear in St. Gallen,
Broderick said. “My horse is just 9 years old so he hasn’t a lot of experience at this level. I knew Scott was able to go very fast so I just tried to be quick and luckily we were clear. It’s really nice for my first Longines Global Champions Tour to be on the podium! There are not as many Irish horses at the top level than there used to be so I’m glad that my horse has been jumping so well for the whole year. I want to thank all my team and I’m very lucky to ride this fantastic horse.”
See full results of the Cascais Longine Global Champions Tour Grand Prix. And also see standings of the GCT season.
