British and Irish out in force as Global Champions Tour continues in Cannes

Indeed, a total of 61 riders and 120 horses from 24 nations have come to the southeastern French resort city, which is known among other things for its annual film festival and flower market. Alexandra Thornton and John Whitaker make up the rest of the British contingent on the Mediterranean coast. For its part, Ireland has five riders taking part in the competition, not far from where actors and actresses gather each year on the red carpet: Bertram Allen, Michael Duffy, Cameron Hanley, Darragh Kenny and Denis Lynch. Scott Brash’s Hello Mr. President and Hello Jefferson are pictured aboved in their stables in Cannes. 

Said to be named after the ‘canes’ along its once-reedy shore, Cannes follows Mexico City, Miami Beach, Shanghai, Madrid, Hamburg and Saint-Tropez in the series, and many of the other riders in the current top ten for the Tour are also entered in the show: Belgium’s Jos Verlooy, Pieter Devos and Nicola Philippaerts, France’s Julien Epaillard and Israel’s Danielle Goldstein.

Situated on the Gulf of Napoule, Cannes backs onto wooded hills and is crossed by the palm-lined Promenade de la Croisette with its luxury hotels. Reflecting that 5* atmosphere, €566,000 in prize money is being offered over the course of the weekend on designer Uliano Vezzani’s courses at the Stade des Hespérides, including in the €300,000 Grand Prix at 10 p.m. local time on Saturday.

In the 19 team-Global Champions League, riders from various countries on different squads compete in parallel with the Tour, including as a qualifier for the Grand Prix. The ‘Cannes Stars’ team of Jane Richard Phillips, Sergio Alvarez Moya, Piergiorgio Bucci, Karel Cox and Daniel Coyle are currently in 17th place in the league standings after six stages. Viewing options for the competition, including on Eurosport for the Grand Prix and on the LGCT web site, can be found here.