Ladies claim the podium at the Longines Speed Challenge of New York

Canada’s revelation Erynn Ballard emerged victorious riding Fantast in the Longines Speed Challenge on Friday evening at the Longines Masters of New York.
It was an all-female podium finish, with New York’s Brianne Goutal-Marteau and her compatriot Kristen Vanderveen – another new promise who has recently qualified for the Paris finals – joining the party.

Considered the world’s speed championship, the Longined Masters of New York took place on the same course suggested also in Paris on December and Hong Kong in February by Dutch course designer  Louis Koninckx.

Contesting the identical track that riders already faced in the Season III Longines Masters of Paris and Hong Kong, Ballard’s speed prowess allowed her to take a two-second penalty for a dropped rail yet still clinch the victory with a time of 60.62 seconds.

Ballard’s time in the Longines Speed Challenge was faster than the 60.99 achieved by Julien Epaillard on home ground in Paris and eclipsed the time of 63.47 that Philipp Weishaupt of Germany posted riding Chacon in Hong Kong.

Speaking of the key to her victory, Ballard said it was her 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion owned by Sagamore Farms.

The ‘Ladies Night’ ended with the prize-giving ceremony which saw Longines Ambassador of Elegance and Co-founder of The Golden Hat Foundation Kate Winslet meet local New York children with Autism and accept a check on behalf of The Golden Hat Foundation, the Longines Masters of New York official nonprofit partner.

Created in 2010 by EEM, Founder and Producer of the Longines Masters Series Paris Hong Kong New York, the Longines Speed Challenge is the fastest show jumping competition in the world and always a crowd favorite.

Press Release Longines Masters New York
Photo: Fernanda Ameeuw, Juan- Carlo Capelli – Vice President of Longines and head of marketing –
Brianne Goutal-Marteau, Erynn Ballard, Kristen Vanderveen