Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping A pharaoh in Paris!

Two finals, one team – the Global Champions League – and one individual – the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix – and three magnificent champions, or rather six, as the horses played a major part in these victories. With a rare Egyptian victory in the individual class.
Global Champions League: Montreal Diamonds shine!
The first act of the Global Champions League (a two riders team class) was played out on Friday keeping their scores in today’s second round. Without forcing or looking for victory, the Montreal Diamonds composed of world No. 1 Harrie Smolders of the Netherlands, with his “parade“ horse Don Vhp Z, and the Belgian Jos Verlooy, put themselves into second place on Friday waiting for their fate to be sealed today. This afternoon, before their turn, only two teams, the Miami Celtics and the Madrid in Motion, had achieved a double clear round. But the Celtics had a fence down on Friday and therefore, only Madrid in Motion and Hamburg Giants, Friday’s winners, remained the most dangerous opponents. First step for Smolders and Verlooy: go faster than the Madrid in Motion while staying clear. Mission accomplished: 3 seconds and seventy hundredths faster! It almost looked too easy! Now, all they had to do was wait for the Hamburg Giants to complete their courses. The team started well as Suma’s Zorro ridden by the Egyptian Sameh El Dahan produced the fastest clear round of the class. But his Colombian teammate Rene Lopez stifled their hopes with a fault from Twig Veillon after the triple followed by a second fence down at the end of the course thus leaving the victory to the Montreal Diamonds. But Sameh El Dahan would soon take his revenge …
 
Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix: 3rd 5 * victory for Egypt’s Sameh El Dahan
 This team final was also the support of a qualifying round for the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix. The thirty-five best individual riders of the GCL were thus invited for this prestigious Parisian class in one round with jump-off on fences culminating at 1.60m. Eleven pairs managed to do a clear round qualifying themselves for the jump-off. First one to go, Irish Bertram Allen did not hesitate to go full speed from fence to fence with his accomplice Molly Malone V. He knew his time of 36.86 seconds would be hard but not impossible to beat: “I knew it was enough for a podium but the line-up for the jump-off was impressive. Ben, Harrie, Edwina … anyone could have won tonight.“ Indeed, two riders, Harrie Smolders and Ben Maher, victorious in three classes here in Paris, came close, but not enough. The crowd had to wait for the penultimate rider, Sameh El Dahan and his strong-willed Suma’s Zorro. The fearless couple took all the necessary risks to beat the young Irish by half a second thus winning this prestigious Parisian leg: “I had already won two 5* Grands Prix, one in Calgary (Canada) last year and one in La Coruna (Spain) this year, but this is my first victory on the GCT circuit. It is really special to be on a podium with the Eiffel Tower behind you.“ The Egyptian also owes this victory to his Irish owner Joanne Sloan-Allen who trusted El Dahan eight years ago: “I do not know why, but pourquoi pas“, she jokes. “I live with Joanne’s family at her St. Patrick’s County stud farm, explains tonight’s winner. They supported me from the beginning and it was time to give them something back. It has been five years since I started at this level, and it has now been a year since the good results are starting to come in.“
 
For those who want more, the Global Champions Tour and the Global Champions League stay in France and will move to the Château de Chantilly Thursday next week: another majestic decor offered by France’s architectural heritage. As for the Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping, the rendezvous for 2019 is already set from July 3 to 6. Four days of sporting and equestrian emotions offering the same unique spectacle.
RB Presse