| Longines Global Champions Tour on home soil
Little Special in Red M wins Youngster Tour Final
After the legs in London and Valkenswaard, and before heading to New York and Vienna over the next two weeks, the Longines Global Champions Tour stopped at home in Riesenbeck. Christian, Ciaran, and James competed with a total of eight horses. Already on Thursday, Ciaran kicked things off with Serendepety in the opening class of the 3* Tour over 1.40m, delivering a clear round. On Friday, the pair continued their success, securing fourth place with a fast ride in the Kingsland Prize over 1.40m, the first placing for Team Beerbaum in front of the home crowd.
James and Dia Chapila PS also stayed clear in their first competition on Friday, placing in the 2* Tour over 1.30m, and they repeated their strong performance again on Saturday. In the 5* Prize of Four Seasons Private Residencies over 1.45m, Christian and Just Be Gentle delivered a calm and harmonious round on Friday, before the 11-year-old mare had her big moment in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Riesenbeck.
The first highlight of the weekend came on Saturday with the Global Champions League, where Christian and the Riesenbeck International team powered by HorseGym secured a podium finish for the third consecutive time in front of the home crowd. Riding Chageorge, Christian produced a confident clear in the second round and, together with Max Weishaupt, clinched second place. For Chageorge and Christian, this also meant a Top 10 finish in the individual ranking, which earned Christian a starting place in the Grand Prix of Riesenbeck on Sunday. A detailed report on the Global Champions League leg in Riesenbeck can be found here:
Already on Saturday evening, the next highlight followed. Ciaran competed with the 11-year-old Espoir Blanc Cristal in the 3* Prestige Grand Prix of Surenburg. Despite an unfortunate rail down, but with the fastest time of all competitors in the first round, the Riesenbeck pair still earned a placing under the floodlights.
The 7-year-old Little Special in Red M had a perfect weekend on home turf with Ciaran. On Friday, the I’m Special de Muze daughter jumped clear in the LVM Youngster Tour, repeated that performance on Saturday, and earned another placing. On Sunday, the pair started in the Youngster Tour Final over 1.40m and qualified for the jump-off with a clear round in the first course. Fourteen of the 30 competitors made it into the decisive jump-off. As the fourth pair to go, Ciaran and Little Special in Red M took the lead and held onto it until the end. Things got close when Brazilian rider Yuri Mansur guided his Blitz van de Molenbrug Z through the course, just five hundredths of a second slower than the Riesenbeck pair. In the end, victory went to the 7-year-old Little Special in Red M and Ciaran on home ground in Riesenbeck.
At the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Riesenbeck, Christian and Just Be Gentle were warmly welcomed by the home crowd. Their round started promisingly, with the 11-year-old mare clearing all the challenges set by Frank Rothenberger and his team without any problems. She also mastered the triple combination with ease. However, on the final line, at fence no. 11, the triple bar before the arena entrance, the pair made a mistake, resulting in 4 penalty points. Despite this error, Christian and Just Be Gentle still secured a placing on home turf.
All results of the LGCT Riesenbeck can be found here: LGCT Riesenbeck
Philipp is already on his way to the next stage of the Longines Global Champions Tour in New York, before Christian and Philipp head to Vienna one week later.
