World No1 and 2013 LGCT Champion Scott Brash won the Longines Global Champions Tour of London Grand Prix presented by Qatar in spectacular fashion in front of a rapturous home crowd who would have raised the roof of Horse Guards Parade Ground if there had been one. From the very beginning, Brash was hailed as the one to beat and he never faltered. With three LGCT Gold medals and a Bronze under his belt so far this year, the Scotsman is well on his way to defending his Championship title for a second consecutive year.
Second place went to Ludger Beerbaum (GER) and Zinedine who executed three lovely rounds – the only other treble double clear of the class. In the press conference after the prize giving Beerbaum said that he was thrilled with the horse, as 2nd place was the maximum he could have hoped for against Brash and his 2012 Olympic Gold medal-winning partner. Third went to Madrid Grand Prix winners Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) and VDL Groep Verdi who lowered a rail in the four-horse jump-off. Katie Dinan (USA) and Nougat du Vallet were the fourth combination to go forward to the final round, but in a race to catch Brash, a tight turn resulted in horse and rider parting company – the talented young rider was unhurt and happy to claim 4th.
Crowds packed into Horse Guards Parade Ground for the feature class of the show to be greeted by gorgeous sunshine and the very best international show jumping in the world. The elegant VIP Hospitality suite was buzzing with the glamorous show jumping crowd who enjoyed a rare coming together of the world’s Top 18 riders for one of the biggest and highly anticipated events of the show jumping calendar. Twenty-two riders went through to the 2nd round, a testament to the incredible level of talent present here for the 11th round of the series.