Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

8 August 2019 Horse & Hound

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t win for Sampson

prix,displayedimpressiveability

ashepingedtheoxer-indouble

offlittlestrideandstillmatched

Spencer’spacetotakeonelessto

thefinalfence—axing0.55secoff

theAmerican’slead.

“Itwasoneofthoserounds

whereeverythingjustcameoff

whereI neededit to,”saidMatt,

whoboughtthehorselastyear

andviewshimasa bigtrack

prospect.“Itdoesmakeyourlife

easierwhentheyjumplikethat.”

Mattonlybroughtonehorseto

London,andmadeanimpression

onhisLonginesGlobal

ChampionsTour(LGCT)debut,

alsocelebratinghis29thbirthday

bynailingvictoryinFriday’s

scorching1.40mtwo-phasewith

theeight-year-old.

“Hehasa reallybigstrideand

thedistanceswereallreallyshort

forhimsoI didn’twanttogocrazy

fast,”saidMatt.“Itwasamazingto

hearthenationalanthem.”

HOME-GROWNTALENT

THECSI2*classesata GCT

have a unique flavour, combining

THE London leg of the

LGCT was an unbelievable

show once again. It’s a super

venue and it’s nice for British

riders to get a glimpse into

this world. But therein lies

the problem — the LGCT

has become a totally insular

subsection of the sport.

The series is a completely

different type of showjumping

— underlined after I arrived

from the big grass rings of

Hickstead and Falsterbo —

more often than not held in

similar sand arenas, with the

sameLonginescombination

andlinesfromthesame

course-builderseveryweek.

Butwithriderssuchas

worldnumberoneSteve

Guerdathavingnotcompeted

ontheGlobalsforthepasttwo

years,there’sproofyoudon’t

needtobeintheLGCTbubble

tosurvive.

OnSaturday,theseats

werefullforthestartofthe

firstclass,buttheGCLformat

madeit confusingandthe

crowdshowedlittleinterest.

Thegrandprixthat

followedwasa reallygreat

class,butit lookedasthough

a goodportionofthecrowd

hadleftbeforethestart—

possiblybecausetheydidn’t

understandwhatwasgoing

on.Showjumpingis so-called

becausewe’retryingtocreate

a showforpeopletoenjoy.

I hopeGCpresident

Jan Tops comes up with a

better system.

But among the positives to

have come from the series are

theopportunities for under-25

riders,suchas Great Britain’s

HarryCharles, who is doing a

greatjobatthe moment.

PINNING OUR HOPES

WEallknow the quality of

BenMaher,but Explosion W

provedhe’sone of the best in

theworldby coming so close

inthecontrasting grand prix

atAachenbefore winning in

London.

Andwith Hello M’Lady

goingsowell, Scott Brash

lookstohave done a great job

inhavingher ready to peak at

theEuropeans.

Itbodeswell that hopefully

thesetwowill be the linchpins

inRotterdam — which looks

likelynowto be our only way

ofqualifying for the Olympics.

Let’shopethey do it because

youcannotunderestimate

whata huge impact not

havinga team in Tokyo will

haveforyearstocome.H&H

‘The crowd seemed

confused by format’

William Funnell asks whether the

GCTis getting it right for the crowd

ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

OPINION

WilliamFunnellisoneofthe

country’sleadinginternational

showjumpers,a four-timewinner

oftheHicksteadDerbyanda highly

regardedbreederandproducer.

riderstryingtoedgetofive-star,

hobbyistswiththeresourcesto

competeandthemost-promising

youngriderslookingtogaina

tasteoftheinternationalstage.

ItwasthelattergroupofBrits

whoreallyshonethroughoutthe

weekend,providinga reassuring

glimpseofthehome-grown

talentcomingthrough.Under-

18sheadedfouroutofnine

two-starclasses,whilefour

oftheremainingfivewentto

fellowBrits,makingfora near-

whitewashonhomesoil.

Seventeen-year-oldFloNorris

hasclearlybenefittedfrombeing

basedwithBenMaherforthe

pastyear.Shewasoutstanding

inherconsistency,winning

Saturday’s1.30mwithKadance

Van’tLozerhof,whoalsopicked

uptwosecondplacings,whileher

othermareDonatellaL’Espoir

wasrunner-upinSaturday’s

1.40m/1.45m.

“It’sgreattogettoseeBen

rideallthetime,andit’sdefinitely

improvedmyconfidenceandmy

knowledge of how to ride a speed

Guest comment

from the national

championships

NEXT

WEEK

Alena Hughes and Rainbow land Saturday’s 1.15m class