Martin Fuchs (SUI) and Chaplin pulled off an astonishing Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix win in Cascais, Estoril beating his London Knights teammate Ben Maher (GBR) only hours after they won the GCL together earlier in the evening.
The Swiss star earned a standing ovation from a packed house in the beautiful grass arena where every seat and every space was taken by fans not wanting to miss a moment of the high adrenaline world class 1.60m competition.
The win was a repeat performance of Madrid where London Knights won the GCL team competition and Fuchs went on to win the LGCT Grand Prix qualifying him for the LGCT Super Grand Prix at the GC Playoffs in Prague.
With Fuchs already qualified for the GC Playoffs, it was second place Ben Maher who now gets his coveted ticket to the LGCT Super Grand Prix showdown.
Ecstatic after his victory Fuchs said:
I do love turf and my horse Chaplin is great in the big rings and was great again today. Luigi and my whole family are here and it is my mother’s birthday and I hope they are happy to see me win”
Speaking about his jaw-dropping win he said:
I could see Ben go and wanted to do one less from two to three and turn to the double and Chaplin is just a very quick horse. So is Explosion but today the luck was on my side!”
Pieter Devos (BEL), who won through to the jump off but finished on four faults, clinched enough points to rocket back into the overall LGCT ranking lead, sitting 16 points ahead of Germany’s Daniel Deusser. Earlier in the night, Devos said:
I am going to do everything again to be No1 in the Championship.†After the competition he said: “I am very happy to be on top again. There are a few riders who can win the Championship and I am very motivated to stay there.”
Ben Maher finished second in the LGCT Grand Prix and continued his stealthy move up the ranking into third place and only three points behind Deusser. Ireland’s Michael Duffy finished in third place in the LGCT Grand Prix of Cascais after a brilliant ride on Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars.
Said 2nd placed LGCT Grand Prix rider, Ben Maher:
Explosion had a long rest after last year and it has just taken some time to get into form again. He’s fresh and under used so hopefully will keep going strong till the end [of the season]. I just need to get faster. I left too much space for Martin today. I watched the others go, I decided to take the risk and do the five – I think it was faster for the way my horse jumps. Martin kept going to the last, I had to swing wide but Martin at the moment is with Chaplin one of the best horse in the world. I qualified for the [LGCT] Super Grand Prix so it is a nice conciliation prize.”
Stunning aerial images of the beautiful showground in Cascais across to the spectacular Estoril coastline were beamed around the world as the action got underway for the 9th event of the 2019 LGCT series.
Frank Rothenbergerâ’s course was one of the most technical and substantial of the 2019 season so far. The track inside the immaculate velvety grass arena took no prisoners and it was literally standing room only as the action got underway under floodlights.
The Championship now looks to Monaco next week, for the 10th round of action on the 2019 Championship – marking the midway point of the season.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.