Italian rider Emanuele Gaudiano celebrates his victory astride Chalou on the opening day of the Longines Global Champions Tour - Doha event at the Al Shaqab Arena, yesterday.
Doha: Italian rider Emanuele Gaudiano yesterday kicked off the new Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) season with a sublime performance astride Chalou at Al Shaqab Arena.
Riding under lights, the 32-year-old Italian topped the charts in the 150/155m competition in a time of 73.34 seconds. Gaudiano won €14,750 for his faultless routine with Chalou.
Veteran French rider Julien Epaillard, astride Virtuose Champeix, sealed the second fastest time (73.67 seconds) to secure the prize of €11,800.
Virtuose Champeix exhibited electric speed but Chalou managed to dive under the set time set by Epaillard, 41.
“It was very difficult today to defeat Epaillard, but Chalou jumped great. It is a very cautious jumper and outside he finds everything just a bit easier,” Gaudiano said as fans welcomed the start of the 20-stop LGCT championship.
French star (Viking d’La Rousserie €8,850, 74.32 seconds) settled for the third spot in the €60,000 competition.
Alberto Zorzi (Danique €5,900, 76.46 seconds) and Simon Delestre (Chesall Zimequest €4,130, 76.91 seconds) completed the top five riders of the day.
Reigning LGCT champion Ben Maher of Great Britain (Explosion W €2,360, 77.95 seconds) was seventh fastest. Great Britain’s Scott Brash (Hello Senator, 85.39 seconds) was at rank 20.
Today the competitions start at 4:30pm with riders aiming for glory in the 150m (against the clock) class worth a staggering €50,000. A total of 40 riders will line up for the competition.
In the day’s last event, €150,000 will be up for grabs as 50 entries will feature in the main competition of day two of LGCT season opener. The last event will start at 6:30pm.
Tomorrow the second round of the €95,000 Global Champions League (GCL) will start at 2:30pm with 52 horses.
The €375,000 LGCT Grand Prix will start at 5:45pm with jump-off commencing at 7:15pm.
