The championship race revs up in the Spanish capital of Madrid with a stunning world class field in contention for the ranking leadership.
Scott Brash, Eric Lamaze, Gerco Schroder, Ludger Beerbaum, Edwina Tops-Alexander, Christian Ahlmann, ranking leader Bassem Hassan Mohammed, Kent Farrington, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Roger-Yves Bost, Ben Maher, Marcus Ehning, Michael and John Whitaker and home rider Sergio Alvarez Moya will all be out to take the Grand Prix crown and assert themselves at the top of the ranking.
The gold-plated line up of competitors will ensure a knife edge battle in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Madrid in the beautiful surroundings of the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. With a total of €320,000 in Grand Prix prize money and €105,600 going to the winner.
After the early season Grand Prix showdowns in Miami Beach and Antwerp the competition on the circuit is already intense with the world’s top riders determined to dominate and take the coveted series title in November at the final leg in Qatar. With competition in Madrid starting on Friday May 1, there will be heavy scrutiny of the early qualifying classes to see which riders and horses are at the top of their game.
At 17:00 local time on Saturday all eyes will be on the first round of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix and the entire competition will be streamed live on GCT TV.
The championship fight has already seen World No 2 Scott Brash take the lead after a blistering win in Miami Beach on Hello Sanctos. Then after the second leg in Antwerp, Belgium, last weekend the ranking leadership changed hands with Bassem Hassan Mohammed taking the top spot on points. Last year’s winner in Madrid Maikel van der Vleuten will be aiming for a double and Germany’s Marcus Ehning will be a major threat as he is bringing the magnificent Plot Blue. British brothers Michael and John Whitaker will also be in determined mood in Madrid.
Full list of riders competing at LGCT Madrid
Australia
Julia Hargreaves
Edwina Tops-Alexander
Belgium
Constant Van Paesschen
Brazil
Marlon Módolo Zanotelli
Canada
Tiffany Foster
Eric Lamaze
Colombia
Carlos Lopez
Egypt
Sameh El Dahan
El Salvador
José Alfredo Hernández Ortega
France
Roger-Yves Bost
Germany
Christian Ahlmann
Ludger Beerbaum
Marcus Ehning
Marco Kutscher
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum
Greece
Athina Onassis de Miranda
Ireland
Bertram Allen
Darragh Kenny
Italy
Emanuel Bianchi
Japan
Toshiki Masui
Morocco
Abdelkebir Ouaddar
Netherlands
Gerco Schröder
Maikel van der Vleuten
Portugal
Luciana Diniz
Qatar
Hamad Ali Mohamed A Al Attiyah
Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani
Bassem Hassan Mohammed
Russian Federation
Valeriya Sokolova
Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Al Sharbatly
Spain
Sergio Alvarez Moya
Sweden
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson
Henrik von Eckermann
Switzerland
Steve Guerdat
Christina Liebherr
Jane Richard Philips
Pius Schwizer
United Kingdom
Scott Brash
Ben Maher
John Whitaker
Michael Whitaker
United States
Kent Farrington
Lauren Hough
Laura Kraut
Paris Sellon
Jessica Springsteen
From 17 to 20 September the Longines Global Champions Tour is coming to Vienna again! Tickets for the VIENNA MASTERS are already available on the Eventwebsite.
Source: Press release
