Newcomers Stockholm Hearts powered by H&M We Love Horses yesterday kicked off their season in style by securing pole position going into the first super Saturday Showdown of the year.
On the opening day of the season-opening Longines Global Champions League at the floodlit Longines Arena at Al Shaqab, Malin Baryard-Johnsson (H&M Indiana) and Olivier Philippaerts (H&M Legend Of Love) saddled up for the Stockholm Hearts and topped the leaderboard by clocking 72.51 secs and 66.43 secs respectively to post a combined total of 138.94 secs with no faults in the first round of the 1.55m contest.
An ecstatic Bayard- Johnsson said: “We are super happy of course like you say it’s the first round for the team Stockholm Hearts. We are super proud, super happy with the horses. We have 2 extremely good horses they try their hearts out for us. We have 5 teams clear today, Saturday is a new day and it’s going to be tough, there are a few teams looking very very strong.”
Giving some insight into their team tactics, Philippaerts said: "First of all, we have to decide who is going to jump on Saturday, I think we will have a discussion further on and probably think it is going to be Malin and Peder but we will see how it goes, lucky to have a few different horses so hopefully we get 2 more clear rounds on Saturday.”
Reigning champions Valkenswaard United showcased their heavyweight line-up with Marcus Ehning and new signing showjumping hero John Whitaker. Riding super Stargold, Ehning was first to take on the challenge but an early fault at fence two immediately put United on the back foot before Whitaker and Unick du Francport also had the same fence down as they start the season with a score of 8 faults.
The course looked jumpable but the first clear round didn’t come until Harrie Smolders and Bingo du Parc sailed round for the Paris Panthers, leaving them on just the 4 faults that Gregory Wathelet picked up. Berlin Eagles regular pairing of Ludger Beerbaum on Mila and Christian Kukuk with Mumbi proved how consistency in teams can pay off as the pair finished as the fastest team on four faults.
U25 riders pulled out all the stops today as Michael Pender (St Tropez Pirates), Jack Whitaker (Madrid In Motion) and Mike Kawai (London Knights) all produced flawless clear rounds to help keep their teams in contention of claiming the first championship points of the year.
But it was new team Stockholm Hearts that proved why they are the best on paper with a spectacular double clear in a lightning-fast time to rocket them to the top of the leaderboard. The powerful pairing of Baryard-Johnsson and H&M Indiana alongside Philippaerts and H&M Legend of Love were a force to be reckoned with it in GCL R1.
Prague Lions thrived in the huge arena as new combination of Belgium boys Niels Bruynseels and Pieter Devos onboard Cristel and Claire Z also produced a faultless score to keep them in touch with a podium.
With eleven out of sixteen teams all just one fence apart tomorrow's competition is going to be tighter than ever as they battle to secure the crucial 2022 season points.
The fastest time in the course was registered by Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, with the Brazilian taking home the win with his eleven-year-old mare Like A Diamamond van het Schaeck.
Zanotelli recorded a clear round in the fastest time of 65.70 seconds.
Simon Delestre had to settle for second place. Riding the Zangersheide gelding Dexter Fontenis Z (by Diarado), he crossed the finish line in 65.91 seconds. Olivier Philippaerts could count on the 16-year-old H&M Legend Of Love to complete the top three in 66.43 seconds.
Earlier, the 2022 Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) got off to a fine start with Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten astride Kamara van't Heike winning the CSI5* (1.45 m) in a commanding fashion.
Van der Vleuten’s flawless performance in 23.07 seconds gave him the top prize of €6,375 as Frenchman Olivier Robert clinched second position after he completed the task with Vangog du Mas Garnier in 23.30 seconds.
Britain’s John Whitaker combined with Sharid to take third position after clocking 23.72 seconds. Scott Brash astride Hello Mr President was fourth (23.80 sec) while Gerrit Nieberg riding Blues d'Aveline CH earned fifth position with a time of 24.28 seconds.
