The champion riders are back and feeling their oats
Print Edition
THE open area in front of China Art Museum at the Expo Park in the Pudong New Area will be transformed into a show jumping course for the 2017 Longines Global Champions Tour of Shanghai.
The event, which will be staged from April 28-30, will feature nearly 60 riders along with their adorable horses.
It is the fourth straight year that Shanghai is hosting the five-star show jumping event that serves as the third leg — after Mexico City and Miami Beach — of the 15-stop championship.
This year, there will be four Chinese riders who have been given wild cards to the event. They will join the world’s top ranked riders like Germans Daniel Deusser and Christian Ahlmann, American Kent Farrington, and Scott Brash from Scotland.
The first round of the two-day Global Champions League kicks off on April 28. Home side, the Shanghai Swans, will be hoping for the full support of the local fans as they vie for a place at the top of the results board against the full grid of 18 teams.
On April 29, it will be a grand banquet for the city’s equestrian followers, who will first watch the Global Champions League team final of the Shanghai leg.
It will be followed by the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, in which riders will try to clear the highest 1.60-meter obstacle. A prize purse of 500,000 euros (US$531,950), as well as LGCT ranking points, is on offer for the riders.
There will be two high-octane classes on April 30, with riders vying for a share of the 270,000 euros in prize money in the final class alone.
“The Shanghai leg has become an important event in LGCT’s calendar, thanks to its rising popularity and well recognized organization,” said Yang Yibin, vice general manager of the Shanghai organizer, Juss Event.
“This year, the Global Champions League Series got approval from the International Equestrian Federation that led to an increased participation — from 12 teams last year to 16 this year.
“So there is more excitement this year,” Yang said.
The GCL Series was first introduced as part of the LGCT last year. As a team competition, it was created to add vibrancy to the sport and attract more young followers. The teams were given names featuring the host cities of LGCT. Riders’ results in GCL not only contribute to the team’s ranking, but also give riders qualification to the LGCT Grand Prix.
Under the new format introduced this year, GCL team owners can select a roster of five riders for the season. A tactical transfer window will open from July 17 to July 24 to allow the owners to re-assess their teams’ strengths and ensure a strong second half of the season and a chance of year-end title.
Also, each team must select at least one under-25 rider, thus offering the sport’s younger generation of riders the opportunity to compete on a global stage next to veterans and legends of the sport.
Other rules that were introduced this year include allowing inner-team rotation of riders and horses between rounds over two days for team tactics.
This year, the Shanghai Swans will have two male and three female riders. The three women riders — Jessica Springsteen (USA), Janne Meyer-Zimmermann (Germany) and Alexandra Thornton (Britain) — also represented the Swans last year. They will be joined by German Daniel Duesser and French veteran Roger-Yves Bost.
Last year’s event in Shanghai attracted over 26,000 spectators over three days, including movie stars and top models. The venue had a European town feel, with spectators enjoying food and wine during breaks in the competition.
It will be more of the same this year too, besides the Shanghai International Horse Fair and China-Europe Horse Industry Exchange Seminar.
Spectators are also being encouraged to “dress themselves up” for the event, simply because the “most elegantly dressed” spectator will walk away a winner too.
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