Scott Brash & Hello Jefferson 2nd in 5* LGCT Grand Prix of Madrid
Saturday 22 May 2021
It was a win for Olivier Robert (FRA) with Vivaldi des Meneaux in today’s Longines Champions Tour Grand Prix with Scott Brash (GBR) taking 2nd with the 12 year-old bay gelding Hello Jefferson owned by Lady Pauline Kirkham and Lady Pauline Harris.
A thrilling two-way jump-off decided the placings with Olivier and Scott being the only two riders from a field of thirty-four that jumped clear in the first round across the testing course designed by Spanish course designer Santiago Varela Ullastres. For Olivier, it was the biggest win of his career and he was clearly getting emotional about his victory when he said “I am always second, I’ve never won a 5* Grand Prix before today and it was a tough one against one of my favourite riders Scott Brash”.
Speaking about qualifying for the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix, taking place at the GC Prague Playoffs this November Olivier said: “To be there with all the champions, I am not a champion myself, I don’t understand how I am here winning here, it is just incredible for me.”
Ranking leader going into this second leg Niels Brynseels didn’t qualify for today’s LGCT Grand Prix costing him seven placings in the overall season rankings as he fell to 8th place with 40 points. Now leading the championship race is Scott Brash on 68 points with Bart Bles and Olivier Robert in hot pursuit on 63 and 60 points respectively.
From the thirty-four starters, faults were cropping up all around this varied track: at the Longines combination, the open water and the tricky double across the arena. The time was not so influential as only a few riders got caught out picking up a single time fault.
The jump-off featured two top combinations and the decider lived up to everyone's expectations. First to go Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson laid down the gauntlet at the beautiful Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. The experienced combination had an extremely tight roll back to the Marques De Riscal oxer. He then picked up the pace and didn’t check as he flew down the final line to the Longines oxer. Hello Jefferson was jumping his heart out for Scott and piled the pressure on Olivier to go clear in a time faster than 39.26 seconds.
The crowd whistled and cheered as the underdogs Olivier Robert and Vivaldi des Meneaux entered the arena. Straight away he pushed the pedal to the metal and at the halfway point he was half a second faster. Turning inside to the Longines upright and on the angle he flew over the final fence to win the biggest Grand Prix in his life by over two and half seconds in a time of 36.74s.
It was a sensational day of world class sporting action and the competition at the LGCT of Madrid concludes tomorrow with two more thrilling five-star classes, including the King’s Cup: watch all the action live on GCTV. After Madrid, the Tour moves to the stunning Ramatuelle, Saint-Tropez ( 27 - 29 May) on the French Riviera for the third leg of the season.
For full results https://bit.ly/3hIUUru
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