Global Champions Tour
Over 30 top international riders in action for tonight’s Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Spain
Over 30 top international riders will be aiming for the top spot on the podium tonight in the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Spain with €285,000 prize money at stake and crucial qualifying points for the Olympics.
The Grand Prix Banco Sabadell Trophy will be watched by millions via Eurosport, national television networks and on GCT livestreaming. It is the second Grand Prix of the GCT series so far this year and counts as a qualifier for the Olympic Games in London this summer and for the European Championships in 2013.
Billy Twomey, the winner of last year’s Grand Prix in Valencia, praised the “top class” facilities for the CSI 5* event and the high standards for riders, horses, sponsors and spectators at the GCT shows.
Billy will be riding his chestnut mare Tinka’s Serenade in the Grand Prix and said: “I expect there will be a lot of interest from the public in the Grand Prix here. It is the class everyone wants to watch.
“As a rider in the GCT, of course, you want to keep on form with your ranking and prize money and that is a constant pressure. GCT has raised standards in the sport across the board which is a good thing. I have a very supportive owner who is really knowledgeable about the sport and have been involved with the same owner for 12 years, so I am very lucky to have that behind me.”
Billy, currently in 4th place in the 2012 GCT ranking, is pre-selected for the Olympic as an individual rider along with fellow Irish rider Denis Lynch. He said: “If you are competing at the Olympics you have to consider how many shows you are doing and I am lucky enough to have Tinka’s Serenade, Je t’Aime Flamenco, Romanov and Wings Sublime seems to be jumping very good. I have to keep my form to a decent standard and keep looking forward. And that means planning which horses go to which competitions. I was very happy with 2011 and winning the GCT in Valencia and I am looking forward to the Grand Prix this weekend.”
Edwina Tops-Alexander, No1 on the 2012 GCT rankings so far and also 2011 overall champion, will be aiming to stay on top when she rides her famous gelding Cevo Itôt du Chateau in the Grand Prix later today.
The high stakes competition will be played out on the shores of the Mediterranean at the new venue of the Oliva Nova Equestrian Centre on the southern tip of Valencia province. The world’s best riders spent the morning exercising their Grand Prix horses in anticipation of a hotly-contested class.
Riders from across the globe have travelled to Spain for the latest stage of the world’s premier show jumping circuit. The USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Brazil, Australia and countries throughout Europe are all represented.
