Top riders to appear at the Longines Paris Masters.

As we have already announced earlier this week on the HSJ website, the Longines Paris Masters has been confirmed and will be taking place from the 3-6 December at the renowned Salon du Cheval de Paris and this year more than ever the organisers want the event to be a symbol of solidarity, unity and tolerance.
Several top riders will be appearing at the Parisian event including Penelope Leprevost, Kent Farrington, Steve Guerdat, Bertram Allen, Jeroen Dubbeldam and Scotland’s golden-boy Scott Brash who has been leading the world rankings for two years straight with the exception of a brief stint when Daniel Deusser held the leadership for one month.
Looking to change that however is the world number two from USA Kent Farrington and he will be arriving in Paris as a major contender after a total of 22 international wins. However, Brash’s honours list is more than impressive after a legendary Rolex Grand Slam hat-trick while Paris has also brought him a successful result in the past, coming second in the GP in 2013 with Ursula XI. The flying Scotsman will now be setting his sights on an indoor Grand Slam after winning the outdoor category.
Moving on and in third place in the world rankings we find French horsewoman Penèlope Lèprevost and she is currently in fine form. Together with her BWP Flora de Mariposa, Lèprevost will be aiming for a strong performance on home soil.
There is also anticipation for the appearance of the current European and World champion Jeroen Dubbeldam. The rider is the only one after Germany’s Hans Gunther Winkler in the history of the sport to have won three major international titles since becoming Olympic Champion in Sydney in 2000.
The current Olympic Champion on the other hand is Steve Guerdat, who also boasts the FEI World Cup in his trophy cabinet, and he will be in the French capital along with the ‘newbie’ Bertram Allen. At just 20, the up and coming rider took part in the recent Las Vegas World Cup final where he finished third.
Those six stars will also be joined by the likes of Patrice Delaveau (winner of the 2013 edition), Simon Delestre (bronze medal winner at the European Championships in Aachen), Roger-Yves Bost, Daniel Deusser (FEI World Cup winner in 2014), Gregory Wathelet (silver medal at the European Championships in Aachen) and Ludger Beerbaum (19 medals to his name including 4 Olympic golds).
And it doesn’t end there. The star studded rider list continues with Marco Kutscher and John Whitaker, the winner of the Hong Kong leg at the start of the year with Argento and therefore in line for the super bonus of 250.000 € reserved to the winner of two consecutive legs of the Slam. In Los Angeles it was Marco Kutscher, and a win in Paris would be worth 500.000 euros which could also become another one million in bonus money to the winner of all three legs of the Slam.
EEM Team Press office
photo credits: Tiffany Van Halle EEM