Bengtsson Pursues Global Conquest
By Paula Parisi October 27, 2012
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Carusso LS La Silla on course at Valkenswaard. (Sportfot)
Cue the fireworks for the Global Champions Tour Final in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Nov. 24. Rolex/FEI World Show Jumping No.1 Rolf-Göran Bengtsson of Sweden has drawn even with Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander, creating a tie at the top of the leaderboard for the start the 12th leg of the tour. Each has 196 points.
At this point, it would be possible for anyone from third-place Christian Ahlmann of Germany (180 points) to seventh-place Richard Spooner of the USA (162 points) to snatch the top slot, should those ahead perform poorly. The victor after three rounds on each stop earns rounds earns 40 points.
It was at the Sept. 22 Grand Prix of Vienna where the 10-year-old, dark-bay stallion, Carusso La Silla, propelled Bengtsson to parity with Tops-Alexander even though the Swede placed eleventh. (His rival was 24th)
Bengtsson has been No. 1 on the Rolex/FEI ranking since Dec. 31, 2011, when he overtook Eric Lamaze. The 50-year-old said he is particularly pleased with the GCT results
Bengtsson and Casall La Silla in Switzerland. (Sportfot)
He said he was particularly pleased with Carusso’s result in the CSI5* 1.6m Vienna class. “Edwina has her number one horse and I have my youngster, but he has been performing very well even though he is not so experienced [as the 16-year-old gelding Cevo Itôt du Chateau]. It has been a good year.”
Bengtsson, 50, has indeed had a fantastic GCT season on his 2012 Olympic mount, the stallion Casall La Silla, coming in second in the GCT Grand Prix in Hamburg, Cannes and Lausanne and third in Valkenswaard. The horse is owned by the Holsteiner Verband, which has all breeding rights, but leased by Mexican billionaire Alphonso Romo for competition.
In a somewhat piquant twist that lends added drama to the GCT showdown, Bengtsson has previously worked for Edwina’s husband Jan Tops, who was Romo’s main rider through 2003.
Bengtsson was approached by Romo in February 2004, and the following year was wining important classes with the compact yet powerful bay stallion Cassall, then six.
He has not said which horse he will ride at the final in the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 24, but regardless, he expects Tops-Alexander and Cevo Itôt to mount a spirited battle.
Casall La Silla, a stallion by Caretino. (Photo Janne Bugtruppe)
A two-time Olympic Silver Medal-winner, Bengtsson rose to second as part of Sweden’s 2004 team in Athens and individually in Hong Kong 2008. He has come a long way since his days of riding a Shetland pony at his parents’ farm near Lund. Today he lives in in Breitenburg, northern Germanywhere he rents a yard of 35 boxes with business partner Bo Kristofferson.
But his motto of ‘always try to do your best’ continues to serve him well, with wins at the European Championships in Madrid and at the GCT CSI5* grand prix in Hamburg and Monte-Carlo in 2011.
Bengtssen said he likes “the Global Champions formula because you can ride for your nation and be part of a tour. The prize money is good, which means the owners are willing to keep the horses.”
In addition to Casall and Caruso, his best-loved horses have been Tepic La Silla, Ninja La Silla, Pialotta and MacKinley.
When a reporter from Horse Times Egypt asked how he typically trains Casall at home, Bengtsson said, “He does normal flat work, mostly condition training. I only jump him once a week, depending on the show schedule.” (For the complete article, click here.)
Bengtsson also told the writer, Karim Mekawi, that Carusso, a homebred stallion, was trained to achieve such stunning results by being “educated through participation in the youngster tours as a 7- and 8-year-old. As a 9-year-old he did a little bit bigger classes, so that he’d be ready for Grand Prix as a 10-year-old and win!”
Like other star riders on the Global Champions tour, Bengtsson has been impressed by the spectacular settings, particularly in Vienna and Chantilly, which were new locales for 2012.
For Jan Tops, an Olympic Gold Medalist who founded the GCT in 2006, the outcome of the 2012 Global Champions Tour is bound to be gratifying, because when the final jump is cleared, one of his two top students will be crowned champion.
To learn more about the Global Champions tour and view some extraordinary picture galleries, click here.
Tops-Alexander, right, fends off the challenge from Bengtsson, center, with help from Grand Prix of Switzerland winner Laura Kraut of the USA. (Sportfot)
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