Bengtsson wins GCT Monaco

By Staff Report June 27, 2011

Skill, scope and agility are three very important components that mark the world’s best show jumping combinations. It took all of this and more to win the $350,000 Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Monaco, where Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson prevailed as the only one of 48 starters to jump two no-fault rounds.

Riding the stallion Casall La Silla, Bengtsson took home more than $130,000 and a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso watch. It was his second GCT win (and Jaeger watch!) this season.

Germany’s Christian Ahlmann came in second, with just one time fault on Taloubet Z. Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa came in third on Let’s Fly.

The Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Monaco was the culmination of three days of equestrian sport. Set on a non-permanent arena at the Port Hercule, against the backdrop of the palace, the event took place only a few feet from the Mediterranean Ocean.

Precision riding over a very technical Frank Rothenberger track saw Bengtsson emerge with a perfect score on the same horse he piloted to victory at GTC of Germany June 5. “My stallion Casall La Silla has always performed brilliantly, be it on the grass at Hamburg or the small course here at Monaco. He’s fantastic,” Bengtsson said, noting the son of Caretino has been a favorite with breeders. “I am overjoyed, having not dared to hope for two GCT victories, especially as I am now the proud owner of another Jaeger-Lecoultre watch,” said Bengtsson, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

There was no shortage of robust competition in the grand prix as the world’s best riders and horses faced German course designer Frank Rothenberger for the fourth time this season. Frank has built four of the five rounds of the Global Champions Tour this season, yet every arena presents a different palate and set of circumstances.

Monaco arena is small with very little room for adjustability on course and Rothenberger’s track was big and technical.Twelve clear rounds, one on a time fault and five on four faults made up the 18 who went through to the second round. It proved a very difficult challenge. The U.S.’s Lauren Hough, first to go with Quick Study, was eliminated with two refusals. Ireland’s Billy Twomey retired with Tinka’s Serenade

Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly had a misunderstanding at the Eurosport vertical, causing a sudden stop. Additional rails put them out of contention. Ludger Beerbaum, who was leading the GCT ranking after the Cannes leg, had three fences down.

The pressure was turned up in the competition as the heavily packed stands watched the clear show jumping rounds multiply for Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Casall La Silla. No other combinations could match this and he was deemed the winner of the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Monaco.

Ahlmann got tripped up when an added stride between the Massimo Dutti fence and the Global Champions Tour oxer left him fractionally over the time but good enough for second place.

The GCT leaderboard has once again changed with Australian Edwina Alexander moving ahead of Ludger. Edwina concluded the two rounds with 4 faults that eventually placed her on time into seventh place in the grand prix. She now stands with 155.00 ranking points, a little ahead of Beebaum who has 151.50.

It has been a good weekend for Edwina with a second place in a 1.45 Monte Carlo event with Cevo Socrates. On June 11 she won the fourth leg of the GTC on Cevo Itot du Chateâu. The combined winnings put her over the top as the first rider to earn a $1 million Euros from the GCT series since 2006.

The Global Champions Tour heads to Estoril in Portugal the weekend of July 1.
For more information visit www.globalchampionstour.com.

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