A look at Governors Island and Montreal’s Old Port, new stops on the Longines Global Champions Tour

Since the 5* Tour (which now features a parallel Team-based Global Champions League) was created more than a decade ago by Dutch Olympic gold medallist Jan Tops, it has continued expanding across the planet, this year touching down in 20 destinations. And whether beside the Eiffel Tower in Paris, in the grass arena of Campo Marte in Mexico City or on the sands of Miami Beach, there are always local landmarks and flavours in the background setting the scene for the battles out on course.

In 2019, that will also be the case for the two new North American sites chosen as competition venues for the Tour, joining Swedish capital Stockholm as newcomers (Stockholm’s historic site will be examined in a future article). Indeed, the final stop before the Prague Playoffs in December will now take place in iconic New York. More specifically, the venue for the American competition from September  27–29 has been announced as Governors Island (pictured above), a 172-acre, 70-hectare island in New York Harbour – roughly 732 metres from the southern tip of Manhattan and separated from Brooklyn by the Buttermilk Channel. 

The island – which was first called Pagganuck (‘Nut Island’) by the Lenape Native Americans for its hickory, oak and chestnut trees – today offers front-row views of the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty. But as the U.S. National Park Service describes, “For more than two centuries, Governors Island had been off limits to the public, first as a U.S. Army base and later as a Coast Guard station. After the Coast Guard ceased operations the island was transferred to New York State and City in 2003 (for the high cost of… $1!).” It first welcomed visitors in 2005–6 and has since been redeveloped with parks and public open spaces into a site which will host the best show jumpers in the world. 

Three hundred and seventy-five miles (600 km) due north of Governors Island is the Old Port of Montreal, which will host another inaugural Tour competition one week before New York, from September 20–22. First frequented by Europeans in the early 1600s, this area – which alongside its historic architecture features everything from an urban beach to the tallest ferris wheel in Canada – offers close-up views of Montreal’s varied landscape. 

“I am delighted to welcome Montreal to our circuit and to be staging a leg of the series in Canada,” Tops said last year when the city was confirmed as a new destination for the series. “We have fantastic destinations around the world and it is important to continue to bring show jumping to new fans in major cities and to new audiences.” 

With Montreal and New York now closing out the regular season circuit in September, Doha, Qatar – the previous finale before Prague and its playoffs in December – will now launch the season, from February 28–March 2.