| End of the Longines Global Champions Tour season in Prague
In the impressive setting of the O2 Arena in Prague, the season of the Longines Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League came to an end last weekend. Philipp and Christian travelled with Team Riesenbeck International powered by Horse Gym to our neighbouring country. Thanks to their strong performance at the last stage of the Global Champions League in Riyadh a few weeks ago, the team was able to skip the quarterfinals and went straight into the semifinals. There, Philipp, Christian and Max Weishaupt delivered confident rounds and secured victory in the semifinal. This qualified the team for the Super Cup, the final of the Playoffs, and allowed them to enter the first round as the last team to start. Unfortunately, the team was unable to repeat the outstanding performance from the semifinal, and despite two clear rounds by Zuccero HV, they ultimately finished sixth in the Super Cup final.
You can find a detailed report on Team Riesenbeck International’s weekend here: Article
In addition to the final of the team competition, the Super Grand Prix in Prague was also on the schedule, a class in which all winners of the individual LGCT Grand Prix throughout the season compete. With four riders in the Super Grand Prix, no team was represented more often than Team Riesenbeck International. Christian, Philipp, Marco Kutscher and Emanuele Camilli had all qualified during the season. Christian had already secured his starting spot for the Super Grand Prix in August, when he won the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in London with Checker. Philipp followed suit in Vienna, where he and Kilmister won the Grand Prix in the impressive setting of Schönbrunn Palace, earning their golden ticket for Prague.
Christian was the first rider to start in the Super Grand Prix, opening the competition with a confident and clear round with Chageorge. As the tenth starter, Philipp followed with Kokomo B. Up to fence five, the Riesenbeck pair was jumping clear, but a misunderstanding in the line from fence five to six resulted in four faults. After that, Kokomo B lost rhythm and confidence in the course, and the pair met fence seven on a bad stride, causing another four faults. For the sake of his horse, Philipp decided to retire from the course at that point and therefore also refrained from starting in the second round.
As the tenth of 14 starters in the second round, Christian and Chageorge had a good starting position. Only Nicola Philippaerts had completed the course clear up to that point, but he already had eight penalty points from the first round. Christian and Chageorge started their round in their usual confident manner, handled the triple combination with ease, but two late mistakes meant eight faults and an eighth-place finish for the pair.
This year’s victory in the Super Grand Prix went to Belgian rider Abdel Saïd aboard his successful mare Bonne Amie, closely followed by Simon Delestre and Scott Brash. The best rider for Team Riesenbeck International was Marco Kutscher, who finished seventh with Catelly.
The Team Beerbaum schedule continues as early as Wednesday, when Riesenbeck International opens its doors for the first festive CSI** of the year. Philipp, Ciaran and James will be competing on home soil in Riesenbeck.
