Tag Archives: Global Champions Tour

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Events, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Laura Kraut and Cedric Capture First-Ever Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Switzerland Victory

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Laura Kraut and Cherry Knoll Farm's Cedric set a blazing time of 42.53 seconds, riding to the victory in the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Switzerland. Photo By: SportFot/GCT

Lausanne, Switzerland – September 15, 2012 – The GCT championship race intensified dramatically tonight with only five points between Edwina Tops-Alexander and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson after one of the most electrifying Grand Prix of the season.

American rider Laura Kraut won the first-ever Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Switzerland on the 14-year-old grey Cedric, owned by Cherry Knoll Farm of West Grove, PA – even beating her partner and Olympic gold medalist Nick Skelton in the jump off. Laura admitted she was “over the moon” and the jump off had a nail biting twist with Australian rider Edwina facing a tough challenge for the No.1 ranking spot from Swedish rider Rolf.

The smooth Swede cranked up the pressure dramatically by jumping clear in 45.37 on his champion horse Casall La Silla. Edwina came into the ring on Cevo Itot du Château but notched up 4 faults putting her in third place. Laura was next in and set off at a dazzling pace on Cedric, putting in a brilliant turn to the double and chasing down Rolf’s time to finish in 42.53 seconds.

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Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, USEF

Beezie Madden Breezes to Glory on New Horse

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Beezie Madden and Cortes C. Photo: Stefano Grasso/GCT

She is steady, accurate and very focused.  She has a great team around her and today it all came together.  USA rider Beezie Madden romped off to an emphatic win in the VDL Groep sponsored Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Valkenswaard. Beezie claimed the win with a new team horse Cortes “C’ that she has only had for a few months.

This is just her second Global Champions Tour start this year and although Beezie has been competing on the Global Champions Tour since 2006, this is her finest result to date.

Course designing by Italian Uliano Vezzani was a delight for the spectators and riders.  The 15,000 spectators were not kept away by the wet conditions and stood shoulder-to-shoulder ringside and the stands were packed. The VIP marquee was buzzing with activity from the 500 or so guests all involved in the spirit of the competition.

Round two presented a completely unique track with many new fences added and nothing resembled from the first round.

Of the top eighteen combinations that travelled through to the second round, 12 were clear and it looked like too many at this stage.  Three riders on one time fault also went through along with the fastest three riders with four faults.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Catherine Pasmore and My Boy Top a Field of 60 to Claim Victory in Grand Prix Savelys of Chantilly

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Grand Prix win highlights a very successful week at Global Champions Tour locale

Photos: © 2011 by Chris Pasmore. Catherine Pasmore competing at Chantilly, France with My Boy

Chantilly, France – August 6, 2011 – A very busy week for Catherine Pasmore at the CSI 2* show in beautiful Chantilly, France, home of the 2011 Global Champions Tour event, was capped by a hard fought victory over a huge starting field of 60 in the highly competitive Grand Prix Savelys of Chantilly.

Pasmore, and her talented partner My Boy, were one of eighteen horse and rider combinations to go clear from that large group that started in Sunday’s main event.

Pasmore, who finished sixth in the qualifier (Prix ZEP Sport International) which reduced the number of entries from over 90 down to the 60 that eventually went to the post on Sunday, stuck to her game plan to nail down the top-notch international victory. She also used a taunt by her younger brother Will as further incentive and motivation for the win. “I went to the side of the ring to watch the first few in the jump off before getting on,” Pasmore detailed. “My little brother told me to stop stressing, because I wasn’t going to win anyway. After that I just wanted to go in and prove him wrong,” she laughed.

The undulating grand prix field offered up a number of challenges, which Pasmore and My Boy handled brilliantly. “The course didn’t seem too big when I walked it, but it certainly was technical enough,” she said. “The course designer did a brilliant job playing the hills in the ring. The way the lines rode really depended on how your horse jumped off the slope at each given jump. You really couldn’t compare it from horse to horse.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Jennifer Wood, Show Jumping

G&C Farms Pablo Barrios Posts Victory at Global Champions Tour in Chantilly, France

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Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star won the Prix France Galop 1.50m speed class at the Global Champions Tour event in Chantilly, France. Photo © Cealy Tetley

Wellington, FL – July 26, 2011 – G&C Farm and rider Pablo Barrios have continued their summer tour with victory and strong performances at major CSI five star competitions across Europe, including a win at the Global Champions Tour event in Chantilly, France. G&C Farm is based in Wellington, FL, and owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal of Venezuela. Barrios, who competes for Venezuela, is also based in Wellington.

Barrios piloted G&C Quick Star 11 to the win in the Prix France Galop 1.50m speed class in Chantilly. The pair posted a time of 66.34 seconds for the win over Alvaro de Miranda (BRA) on AD Wilbert Z and Leopold van Asten (NED) with VDL Groep Amelie.

This was the second win for the pair on the Global Champions Tour circuit this summer. G&C Quick Star 11 is a 13-year-old KWPN mare by Quick Star x Grannus. “Quick Star has been so solid and consistent this year,” Barrios said. “We are very happy with her and want to keep her strong and ready for the Pan American Games this fall.”

Barrios was very pleased to have posted another win at a five star show. “Winning never gets old,” he said with a smile. “Just being at these shows gives me a lot of knowledge and experience. I hope we can continue our success.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Jennifer Wood, Show Jumping

G&C Farm Starts European Tour with Success and Win in Cannes

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Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 © Stefano Grasso

Wellington, FL – June 16, 2011 – G&C Farm has started their summer tour with success at CSI 5* shows across Europe. Olympian Pablo Barrios, currently ranked 27th in the world, was a class winner at the Global Champions Tour in Cannes, France and has been in the ribbons at major competitions. G&C Farm is based in Wellington, FL, and owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal of Venezuela. Barrios, who competes for Venezuela, is also based in Wellington.

Gustavo Mirabal stated, “It has been a fantastic summer tour in Europe for G&C Farm. It is important for us to jump in five-star shows and in the Global Champions Tour. It is the first time ever that a rider from Venezuela has competed at these shows, and we are very proud to represent our country with the fantastic results that we have received so far. It was such a great feeling to hear the national anthem and see the Venezuelan flag raised in Cannes!”

In their most recent show in Cannes, G&C Farm posted a victory. Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11, a 13-year-old KWPN mare by Quick Star x Grannus, won the Prix Generali (1.50m). The class was a qualifier for the grand prix. Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 returned in the jump-off to go double clear in a speedy time of 36.20 seconds, almost one second faster than the next three competitors.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, Show Jumping

Mares and Marcus Rule in Rio

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Marcus Ehning. All photos by Lulu Kyriacou

Tonight’s two part class in Rio was a glowing tribute to mares as they filled the top four places in a fourteen horse jump off. The Prix Bradesco was a winning round class so the best 20% went through to the second round against the clock where all of them started on zero. There was another 125’000 in total prize money and this class was open to the national riders as well as the GCT ones so sixty horses were originally in the field.

The second phase later that evening was diminished by one when Ellen Whitaker was taken ill and could not jump off. Phillip Weishaupt started the ball rolling on dark bay Souvenir 29 and the pair set an excellent standard of 40.95. It did not like he had left much room for maneuver either. Billy Twomey on another mare Tinka’s Serenade was first to get past the German combination by just two tenths of a second, and then Roger Yves Bost, next in on his young mare Nifrane de Kreisker, removed a stride coming to the last and clipped a second off the Irishman’s time. This was looking unbeatable but you can never say never when the last to jump is Marcus Ehning. Riding his Sandro Boy sired Sabrina, a daring turn to the second last had the desired effect and his time of 39.63 was enough to give him another win on a mare who has barely been unplaced this season.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, Show Jumping

GCT Brazil Begins with Wins for Christian and Luis

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Luis Francisco Azevedo. Photos by Lulu Kyriacou.

With the anticipation of seeing the biggest prize in show jumping decided on Saturday and 30’000 at stake for the show’s leading rider and groom, there was much at stake as the last round of the 2010 Global Champions Tour began in Rio De Janeiro tonight. The show started in the best way possible for the Brazilian organisers and audience when Luis Francisco Azevedo won the first class by a whisker from Alvaro de Mirando Neto. Riding his chestnut gelding Une A Basta, Luis Francisco snatched the lead from Edwina Alexander and Kisby with a time of 51.51. Next to go was Alvaro and AD Norson has been prominent in GCT speed classes this year but today was not his night.  To screams of encouragement, the pair galloped for the last only for the clock to show 51.68. The Brazilian pair was immediately followed by Denis Lynch and Lacroix but he ended up a second adrift of the winner although 52.66 was good enough for third. Luis Francisco is the youngest son of a famous show jumping family. His father has represented the country at the Olympic Games and his brother Luis Felipe, who went so well in the GCT Grand Prix of Monaco, is also competing here.

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Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, Show Jumping

Show Jumping’s Biggest Ever Prize to Be Decided at GCT Rio

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24/08/2010 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Over fifty show jumpers including many of the World’s top 30 show jumping riders will be arriving in Rio in the next 48 hours to compete for 620’000 Euro in show prize money and to decide who will head the GCT rankings and carry off the winner’s share of the One Million Euro Bonus. Each rider may count their seven best GCT Grand Prix results toward this end and the top prize is just short of a staggering 317’000 Euro. Currently the leader is Marco Kutscher but he is being pressed by Marcus Ehning and Jos Lansink, any of whom could take the title. Edwina Alexander is currently fourth. This is believed to be the biggest single purse ever awarded in the sport of show jumping and means that if a rider wins both the GCT Rankings title and the GCT Grand Prix of Brazil they could walk away with the best part of half a million Euro. World Number One Kevin Staut will be among the riders trying to prevent the current top three walking away with both prizes. The Bonus breakdown is below and the details of the rider list and show classes can be found on the show’s own site at www.aoihs.com. Other relevant information can be found at www.globalchampionstour.com.

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Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, Show Jumping

GCT Valkenswaard Day One – Ben and Simon Just Quickest

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Ben Maher. Photo credit: Lulu Kyriacou

Ben Maher Best in 14 Horse Jump Off

13/08/11 – Ben Maher flew to Valkenswaard from a short holiday break and showed he had made the best of the rest when he snatch victory in the 1.50m class this afternoon in Valkenswaard by only three tenths of a second. Riding Oscar who belongs to Ben’s holiday hosts, Mr and Mrs Cook, he rode a superlative jump off despite losing a stirrup over the second last fence. The win was all the more outstanding because Ben has only been jumping the horse competitively for a few weeks; GCT Chantilly was one of their first international outings together. “He just gets better and better,” said a smiling rider afterwards. Fourteen horses had been presented for the jump off over Uliano Vezzani’s course so the winner was bound to be the one who was the bravest, particularly as there was a long gallop to the last. Bernardo Alves, who was the first one to really attack the jump off course on his Monaco winner Bridgit and his time of 43.67 took nearly three seconds off the previous leaders, Gerco Schroder and Eurocommerce Pennsylvania, who ended up fifth. Emilio Bicocci and Olea brought the crowd to their feet but they could only managed 41.15. Michel Robert tried the same audacious gallop to the last that had worked so well in Chantilly with Kellemoi de Pepita but failed by over a second although 45.62 did earn him 1600 Euro for fourth spot.

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Breeds, Community/Charity, Events

‘Foals from the Heart’ Auction Benefits JustWorld Initiatives

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The ‘Foals from the Heart’ auction, run by Vincent Desmarez and his family, raised €11,140 for JustWorld International. Photo credit: Sportfot

August 9, 2010 – Laventie, France – Equestrians across the world are joining the movement to help those less fortunate, as evidenced by a breeding auction held in France that raised €11,140 to benefit JustWorld International initiatives.  JustWorld International is a not-for-profit, humanitarian organization working as a catalyst for positive change in the developing world by helping underprivileged children.

The ‘Foals from the Heart’ auction is run each year by Vincent Desmarez, father of JustWorld Amateur Ambassador Tiphaine Desmarez of France.  Vincent presented JustWorld with a check for €11,140 in a special presentation held prior to the start of the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix at CSI5* Chantilly, France, on Saturday, July 17.  JustWorld Ambassadors Julia Tops of Canada, Luciana Diniz of Portugal and France’s own Kevin Staut accepted the check on behalf of JustWorld.  Staut, who is the reigning European Champion and currently ranked the number one show jumping rider in the world, also acted as the ‘Foals from the Heart’ spokesperson.

“It was so great that Kevin supported our initiative to help JustWorld,” said Vincent’s son, Thomas Desmarez.  “When he was out on the grand prix field at Chantilly and spoke about the important work that JustWorld is doing, it all came together.  It is wonderful to have such a big name behind such a worthy cause.  It attracted all sorts of attention and local press.”

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