The Derby of Valkenswaard

Denis Lynch, who has an especial fondness for wet weather, finally got what he was waiting for on All Inclusive NRW when first pass the post in the last GCT class of the day in Valkenswaard. Following on from a rider like Ludger Beerbaum is never easy, but Denis and his owner, Thomas Straumann, have been patient and after several near misses (including one earlier this week!) the pair finally came out on top.

And this was no easy win either. As the rain came tumbling down in torrents, 19 horses made it through to the jump off. Third in was Bernardo Alves on his brilliant mare Bridgit and his round in 45 seconds looked very good as the conditions worsened. But the lead did not last long. Just two rounds later Denis took the lead by over four seconds! This served as a wake up call to the remaining 14 riders who realised the 8000 Euro purse could have been handed to Ireland by virtue of being slightly cautious. There was nothing cautious about the approaches of Laura Kraut (Unique) and Lauren Hough (Casadora). Despite their best efforts, however, their times of 42.74 and 43.70 only ended up good enough for third and fourth. That was because most efficient attempt to take the prize from the Irishman’ clutches was made by Guy Williams. The British rider clearly had no intention of settling for second and got the crowd cheering his every stride on Torinto van de Middelstede. But the worsening ground meant he had to take a slightly wider line to the second last which left him 0.5 adrift as he went though the gate. “It was a good effort” said Guy ruefully, “but the trouble is that Denis keeps making a better one and beating me!”

The Dutch audience were finally rewarded for their patience when they got a Netherlands 1-2 in the Valkenswaard Derby. The field was small but select including last year’s winners Henk van der Pol and Tennesse among them. But their chance of a repeat ended when the black gelding decided not to jump off the road closed fence at the first time of asking and then demolished the Devils Dyke combination. The winner was Wout-Jan van der Schans with his Eindhoven Derby winner P-Pilot. He was first to go and really set sail clearing every obstacle with apparent ease. The UAE rider Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahayan al Nahayan was next in riding Linotte de Groom and to his great credit, as Derby courses are a rarity in the Arabic nations and he only gets the opportunity to practise when visiting Europe, he was also clear although a little slower in 119.85. Roelof Brill then proceeded to steer Calover round just a little quicker to get in front of Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahayan al Nahayan if anyone thought that meant there would be a procession of clears they were sadly mistaken. Hickstead Derby winner Guy Williams slipped on the turn to a plain fence at nine and crashed right through it and Beezie Madden on her Spruce Meadows Derby winner Prima was up on the clock when the pair knocked down the oxer two from home. Last years’s fourth, Kamal Bahamdam had trouble at the water and Norway’s Morten Djupvik was heading for third spot when he hit the last. Eduard de Rothschild was the only other rider to be clear and though slower than the others on a zero score, this was good enough for fourth place.

The CSI** Horse Festival finished with a home Grand Prix win for Daniel Duesser and Hooligan de Rosyl. The German rider who celebrated his birthday yesterday, is based at Stal Tops so it was a fitting way for the show to end after all the time and effort the staff there, and of course owner Jan Tops, have put in to make the entire show a success.

The Global Champions Tour now moves on to its 9th and final round in Rio de Janeiro, where the winner of the GCT 1 million euro bonus will be decided. Details of this, the show and all today’s results including the Horse Festival and Special Invitational CSI* can be found on our website http://www.globalchampionstour.com/.

Results

Class 5 The Derby of Valkenswaard
1. Wout-Jan van der Schans (NED) P-Pilot, 0, 104.6, Euro6700
2. Roelof Brill (NED) Calover, 0, 110.76, Euro 3500
3. Shahkboot Bin Naryan (UAE),0, 119.85, Euro 2700

Class 6
1. Denis Lynch (IRE) All Inclusive NRW, 0,0, 41.08 Euro 8000
2. Guy Williams (GBR) Torinto van de Middelstede, 0,0, 41.65, Euro 4000
3. Laura Kraut (USA) Unique, 0,0, 42.47, Euro 2000

Quotes
Laura Kraut- “Nick (Skelton, who usually rides Unique) said it sounds like I ride well enough so he might even hire me!”

Denis Lynch- “I am just delighted for the owners but to be fair I made the most of the weather, I reckoned being Irish I was more used to the rain than the others!”

Wout-Jan Van der Schans- “After Eindhoven, I knew I could trust my horse so I went in and went as fast as I could! You never know but this time everything went OK for me, so I am very, very happy to win here.”