Ehning wins Madrid round of Global Champions Tour show jumping

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• published: 23 May 2016
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Germany’s Marcus Ehning produced a stunning display of skill and speed to win the sixth round of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) in Madird, Spain. Riding Pret a Tout, Ehning topped the podium by taking victory in an eight rider jump off thanks to a clear round as last to go in another exciting LGCT Grand Prix finale. Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Sharbatly took second and the silver medal, ahead of Spain’s Eduardo Alaverz Aznar securing third and the bronze medal much to the delight of the home fans. The elegant and historic Club de Campo Villa de Madrid was the venue as a full field of 50 international riders got round six of the Tour Championship underway. Course designer, Guilherme Nogueira, who will be building the show jumping courses for the 2016 Rio Olympics, set a fair but challenging Grand Prix course to test the best in the world and so it proved. The first round was tough, however first rider in, USA’s Paris Sellon and Adare went clear, setting the pace for the rest of the international field. Compatriot Georgina Bloomberg then lead the way for most of round one after a beautiful showcase of show jumping with her mare Lilli. Eighteen riders went through, including Ireland’s Bertram Allen with Hector van d’Abdijhoeve, France’s Kevin Staut with For Joy van’t Zorgvliet HDC and Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet with Citizenguard Taalex. LGCT Ranking leader, Germany’s Christian Alhmann had a fence down, but pushed to the final fences, just squeezing him into the top 18 and through to the next round. The second round was met with further tests for the riders which saw only eight riders progress to the jump-off round. Al Sharbatly was first to go, setting the pace at an impressive 36.08 seconds which really put the pressure on the rest of the field who were unable to beat his time as the final stages played out. Alvarez Aznar’s clear round of 36.38 seconds came close, as did Allen’s round in 36.91 seconds. Belgium’s Olivier Philippaerts’ fine clear round in 37.01 seconds proved good enough for an eventual fifth place, edging out Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s clear in 37.17 seconds into sixth. France’s Roger-Yves Bost with Qoud’Coeur de la Loge and Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson with Unita Ask both saw their chances evaporate after incurring four faults on their tour of the jump-off course. However it was the last combination to go who triumphed as Ehning pushed the course at every opportunity but kept Pret a Tout careful over the 1.60 metre fences; the pair finishing in 35.17 seconds to claim the victory. The win for Ehning is not enough to see him break into the top ten on the LGCT Rankings leaderboard, which continues to be led by his compatriot who has extended his lead with his total of 186 points. Great Britain’s John Whitaker is in second place with 113 points, with The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders in third on 103 points. Qatar’s Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani has the same amount of points as Smolders, but sits in fourth, with Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano in fifth on 96 points. The LGCT now heads to France’s ‘Capital of the Horse’, Chantilly, for the seventh round of action from 26 to 29 May 2016.