Leading the victory gallop in the city where dreams are made with a spectacular win in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of New York was Daniel Deusser of Germany and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z. It was a nail-biting jump-off of just four top combinations, and they all finished within half a second of each other.
Under the watchful eye of the Statue of Liberty Daniel Deusser and his iconic partner were last to go in the jump-off, securing victory with a time of 41.07 seconds. Thrilling the full-capacity crowd, they nipped the win away from Pieter Devos and the flashy Mom’s Toupie de la Roque, whose second place has added himself to be in contention for the overall season championship title.
Fans filled every space possible around the arena, packing into the bustling shopping village to catch glimpses of their show jumping heroes competing under the watchful eye of the Statue of Liberty. The chic hospitality was full to the brim with high-profile guests, including the Bloomberg and Gates families as well of the likes of Christy Turlington.
Daniel Deusser told GCTV, “If it works out like that when you’re last to go in the jump-off and you finish in first place, then it’s always fun! It started very well and I could have done one less stride to fence 13 so I knew it would be close. I was a little bit lucky. That’s the game you play at the end. Today with the sun and especially the crowd here, it was a lot of fun to jump here in New York. It was a super day, thank you to the public for cheering us on. We’ll see you next year again!”
This was only Tobago’s fourth show back after a break, and Deusser is ecstatic to have one of his top horses return to the top: “This means that Tobago is back in shape. I won already the (LGCT) Grand Prix of Cannes with Bingo Ste. Hermelle, which was a big achievement. I’m very happy and proud that Tobago is finally getting back into form, and I hope to enjoy him a little bit longer.”
Governors Island in the heart of the New York City Harbour played host to the Longines Global Champions Tour of New York for the second time. With the imposing lower Manhattan skyline, the iconic Staten Island Ferry cruising by and the towering Statue of Liberty all providing an incredible backdrop for today’s LGCT Grand Prix showdown, the results were as impressive as the location.
The first clear of the day, and the only one in the first half of the class, came from Malin Baryard-Johnsson and H&M Indiana. To the roar of the crowd and with a huge smile, Baryard-Johnsson secured her place as the first to return for the jump-off.
Baryard-Johnsson and H&M Indiana, who set the time to beat as first in the jump-off with a time of 41.45 seconds, rounded up the podium in third place. As the ninth-ranked rider in the Championship Standings prior to Saturday’s LGCT Grand Prix of New York, Baryard-Johnsson made a leap five spots up the board to settle into the fourth spot heading into the Final.
As the only rider in the jump-off to not have already qualified for the LGCT Super Grand Prix in Prague Shane Sweetnam and Alejandro secured their golden ticket to the € 1.25 million ultimate showdown just like in 2019. Securing fourth place in a time of 41.51 seconds the pair will be a force to be reckoned with in November.
Shane smiled, “This is Alejandro’s second time qualifying for LGCT Super Grand Prix so that shows what a great horse he is. He was close in Miami so I thought I had a chance of winning today. I am very excited to have qualified and very excited about today’s result.”
Rounding out the top five were McLain Ward and two-time LGCT Champion Ben Maher. Maher could have made history today if he had repeated his LGCT Grand Prix of New York win like in 2019 the British Champion would have won the 2022 season Championship. But with the championship was on the line, a win wasn’t meant to be as Faltic HB to four faults in 70.97 seconds for sixth place, which does mean he heads into the Final in first place in the overall standings.
Deusser secured his spot in LGCT Cannes for the LGCT Super Grand Prix, which is just two events away in November at the GC Prague Playoffs. Having already qualified meant he could just focus on today’s class and not future possibilities. Deusser explained: “It probably would have been a little more pressure if I would not have been qualified already. I just thought about how I could win this class, and it worked out. I’m super happy today.”
The current season championship standings following the LGCT Grand Prix of New York and the only three riders in contention for winning the 2022 title going into the Final in Riyadh (21-23 October) are as follows:
1. Ben Maher 250
2. Pieter Devos 244
3. Christian Ahlmann 238
The 2022 Longines Global Champions Tour of New York wrapped up its final day of competition on Sunday, September 25, to close out another incredible event and a triumphant return to the city that never sleeps.
Full Results here.
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