Two Lauras lead Rome Gladiators to Global Champions League victory in Madrid

The two Lauras took the first place to earn the Gladiators their first win of the season so far, edging out Cannes Stars into second and Antwerp Diamonds in third.

A tough first round saw many of the world’s top riders and horses caught out by the challenging 1.55 metre course, including GCL ranking leaders Valkenswaard United who failed to qualify for round two after a fence and time fault for John Whitaker, plus a fault collected by Bertram Allen. Doha Fursan Qatar’s Hamad Ali Mohamed A Al Attiyah had an unlucky fall which saw his team eliminated from the competition, and Vienna Eagles just missed out of qualifying for round two after picking up eight faults from Danielle Goldstein, despite team mate and GCL debuting Under 25 rider Paris Sellon jumping a strong clear round.

The Monaco Aces pairing of Daniel Bluman and Schuyler Riley looked to be on phenomenal form throughout the competition, leading the way into round two on a score of zero with both riders clear. They were joined by the Shanghai Swans, Rome Gladiators and the Cannes Stars all on a score of zero and under pressure to jump round two fast and clear with combined time crucial to the finishing positions.

Miami Glory took centre stage as the first team to test out the new course layout. The team carried through four faults into round two, with Georgina Bloomberg jumping a clear but the pressure was on team mate and world number three, Scott Brash, who looked to be on fantastic form until a couple of fences caught the pair out, taking their team total to twelve.

Cannes Stars’ Marco Kutscher provided a careful clear round with Clenur picking up just one time fault. Team mate Roger-Yves Bost pushed his horse Sunshine du Phare to be within the time allowed, however was caught out by a rail costing the team four faults in total, placing them on a final score of five.

Edwina Tops-Alexander provided the anchor double clear for the Shanghai Swans, with team mate Jessica Springsteen the second to last rider to go as the pressure mounted. After a stunning first round, the galloping course cost her 12 faults.

As the Rome Gladiators watched on in anticipation, it was all down to Bluman of the Monaco Aces as the last rider to go. With a score of zero faults so far, the Columbian rider knew he had to jump clear and careful to win, however a pole down could drop them far down the order if his time was too slow.

Midway through the course, the pair caught a pole before also catching the last fence, eventually crossing the line in a combined time of 142.48 seconds but putting them on eight faults and fourth overall behind Rome Gladiators taking first place, Cannes Stars close behind in second and Antwerp Diamonds in third.

The win for the Rome Gladiators moves them up the rankings to fourth place overall with a tally of 130 points. Valkenswaard United are still at the top of the table on a 145 points overall but the rankings have tightened dramatically, with the top three teams all within just four points of one another, with Monaco Aces on 142 points overall and the Antwerp Diamonds hot on their heels with 141 points.

The Global Champions League now heads to Chantilly in France where the seventh leg of competition will take place this Sunday, 29 May.

Longines Global Champions League 2016
Overall standings after leg 6 – Madrid, Spain
1 Valkenswaard United 145 points
2 Monaco Aces 142
3 Antwerp Diamonds 141
4 Rome Gladiators 130
5 Cannes Stars 120
6 Shanghai Swans 114
7 Cascais Charms 111
8 Miami Glory 110
9 Doha Fursan Qatar 103
10 Paris Jets 102.5
11 Vienna Eagles 99.5
12 Madrid in Motion 91