SCOTT & SANCTOS WIN THE ROLEX GRAND PRIX IN GENEVA
Sunday 14 December 2014
Following his superb Rolex Top 10 Final win a couple of days ago, Scott Brash has shown the world once again why he is World No.1 by winning the Rolex Grand Prix at the CHI Geneva with the brilliant Hello Sanctos owned by Lady Kirkham and Lord & Lady Harris.
One of a dozen riders who managed to secure their place in the jump off from the field of forty starters it was evident from the outset that this was going to be a tremendously hard fought class. With the first four competitors jumping clear, risks were going to have to be taken to secure the lion share of the prize fund on offer by turning up the pace and cutting out strides wherever possible.
Entering the arena at the mid-field stage, Scott and Sanctos put in yet another superb performance to return home on zero penalties in a time of 35.69 seconds; the fastest of the competition at that point. It must certainly have been a nail-biting time for Scott whilst the rest of the field came forward as talking afterwards he explained “I had actually wanted to cut a stride out between fences two and three but it just didn’t happen like that in the end. It was then a case of waiting as I didn’t know if I had done enough”.
Despite his hoping to have shaved a little more off his finish time, it was only Roger Yves-Bost that looked like he may topple the lead position Scott had secured himself. So close was Roger on Scott’s tail that you could have heard a pin drop in the packed grandstands with everyone staring at the clock as he cleared the last fence and galloped through the finish. However, stopping the clock just fractionally slower in a time of 35.94 seconds it wasn’t enough for them to topple Scott from the lead position; a position that he then retained through to the end.
Praising Sanctos afterwards Scott commented “He really is amazing. He is always on form and he is just an incredible horse. He is absolutely a once in a lifetime horse and I am so fortunate to have him and have the support of my owners and everyone around me”.
The Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva makes up the third stage of the Rolex Grand Slam. Should he win the other two legs within the same cycle which take place in Aachen and Spruce Meadows then he stands to claim a €1million bonus. Focusing on this Scott furthered “I will now make it an aim to target the Grand Slam. It would be very hard to win two let alone three, but I will definitely give it a try”.
For full results visit http://results.scgvisual.com/2014/geneva/r20.html
