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Global Champions TourBeezie Madden Breezes to Glory on New Horse Beezie Madden and Cortes C. Photo: Stefano Grasso/GCT She is steady, accurate and very focused. She has a great team around her and today it all came together. USA rider Beezie Madden romped off to an emphatic win in the VDL Groep sponsored Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Valkenswaard. Beezie claimed the win with a new team horse Cortes “C’ that she has only had for a few months. This is just her second Global Champions Tour start this year and although Beezie has been competing on the Global Champions Tour since 2006, this is her finest result to date. Course designing by Italian Uliano Vezzani was a delight for the spectators and riders. The 15,000 spectators were not kept away by the wet conditions and stood shoulder-to-shoulder ringside and the stands were packed. The VIP marquee was buzzing with activity from the 500 or so guests all involved in the spirit of the competition. Round two presented a completely unique track with many new fences added and nothing resembled from the first round. Of the top eighteen combinations that travelled through to the second round, 12 were clear and it looked like too many at this stage. Three riders on one time fault also went through along with the fastest three riders with four faults. Catherine Pasmore and My Boy Top a Field of 60 to Claim Victory in Grand Prix Savelys of ChantillyGrand Prix win highlights a very successful week at Global Champions Tour locale  Photos: © 2011 by Chris Pasmore. Catherine Pasmore competing at Chantilly, France with My Boy Chantilly, France – August 6, 2011 – A very busy week for Catherine Pasmore at the CSI 2* show in beautiful Chantilly, France, home of the 2011 Global Champions Tour event, was capped by a hard fought victory over a huge starting field of 60 in the highly competitive Grand Prix Savelys of Chantilly. Pasmore, and her talented partner My Boy, were one of eighteen horse and rider combinations to go clear from that large group that started in Sunday’s main event. Pasmore, who finished sixth in the qualifier (Prix ZEP Sport International) which reduced the number of entries from over 90 down to the 60 that eventually went to the post on Sunday, stuck to her game plan to nail down the top-notch international victory. She also used a taunt by her younger brother Will as further incentive and motivation for the win. “I went to the side of the ring to watch the first few in the jump off before getting on,” Pasmore detailed. “My little brother told me to stop stressing, because I wasn’t going to win anyway. After that I just wanted to go in and prove him wrong,” she laughed. The undulating grand prix field offered up a number of challenges, which Pasmore and My Boy handled brilliantly. “The course didn’t seem too big when I walked it, but it certainly was technical enough,” she said. “The course designer did a brilliant job playing the hills in the ring. The way the lines rode really depended on how your horse jumped off the slope at each given jump. You really couldn’t compare it from horse to horse.” G&C Farms Pablo Barrios Posts Victory at Global Champions Tour in Chantilly, France Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star won the Prix France Galop 1.50m speed class at the Global Champions Tour event in Chantilly, France. Photo © Cealy Tetley Wellington, FL – July 26, 2011 – G&C Farm and rider Pablo Barrios have continued their summer tour with victory and strong performances at major CSI five star competitions across Europe, including a win at the Global Champions Tour event in Chantilly, France. G&C Farm is based in Wellington, FL, and owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal of Venezuela. Barrios, who competes for Venezuela, is also based in Wellington. Barrios piloted G&C Quick Star 11 to the win in the Prix France Galop 1.50m speed class in Chantilly. The pair posted a time of 66.34 seconds for the win over Alvaro de Miranda (BRA) on AD Wilbert Z and Leopold van Asten (NED) with VDL Groep Amelie. This was the second win for the pair on the Global Champions Tour circuit this summer. G&C Quick Star 11 is a 13-year-old KWPN mare by Quick Star x Grannus. “Quick Star has been so solid and consistent this year,” Barrios said. “We are very happy with her and want to keep her strong and ready for the Pan American Games this fall.” Barrios was very pleased to have posted another win at a five star show. “Winning never gets old,” he said with a smile. “Just being at these shows gives me a lot of knowledge and experience. I hope we can continue our success.” G&C Farm Starts European Tour with Success and Win in Cannes Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 © Stefano Grasso Wellington, FL – June 16, 2011 – G&C Farm has started their summer tour with success at CSI 5* shows across Europe. Olympian Pablo Barrios, currently ranked 27th in the world, was a class winner at the Global Champions Tour in Cannes, France and has been in the ribbons at major competitions. G&C Farm is based in Wellington, FL, and owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal of Venezuela. Barrios, who competes for Venezuela, is also based in Wellington. Gustavo Mirabal stated, “It has been a fantastic summer tour in Europe for G&C Farm. It is important for us to jump in five-star shows and in the Global Champions Tour. It is the first time ever that a rider from Venezuela has competed at these shows, and we are very proud to represent our country with the fantastic results that we have received so far. It was such a great feeling to hear the national anthem and see the Venezuelan flag raised in Cannes!” In their most recent show in Cannes, G&C Farm posted a victory. Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11, a 13-year-old KWPN mare by Quick Star x Grannus, won the Prix Generali (1.50m). The class was a qualifier for the grand prix. Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 returned in the jump-off to go double clear in a speedy time of 36.20 seconds, almost one second faster than the next three competitors. Marcus Ehning, King of Rio
 Photo: Marcus Ehning, by Cymon Taylor. There was a lot riding on the last day of the GCT: the Million Euro Bonus, the Grand Prix of Brazil and the Leading Rider Award, which itself was worth over 25’000 Euro to the winner. Uliano Vezanni was in charge of building the course to sort them out and the first round produced eleven clear rounds but to the amazement of many, Marco Kutscher, leader of the GCT rankings, was not among them when he had two down with Catoki. And Jos Lansink’s chance of snatching the winner’s part of the Bonus disappeared when Spender S had two fences down. But Marcus Ehning was in the eighteen second round contestants and so was Edwina Alexander, lying in fourth but ready to capitalise on anyone else’s misfortunes. Mares and Marcus Rule in Rio
 Marcus Ehning. All photos by Lulu Kyriacou Tonight’s two part class in Rio was a glowing tribute to mares as they filled the top four places in a fourteen horse jump off. The Prix Bradesco was a winning round class so the best 20% went through to the second round against the clock where all of them started on zero. There was another 125’000 in total prize money and this class was open to the national riders as well as the GCT ones so sixty horses were originally in the field. The second phase later that evening was diminished by one when Ellen Whitaker was taken ill and could not jump off. Phillip Weishaupt started the ball rolling on dark bay Souvenir 29 and the pair set an excellent standard of 40.95. It did not like he had left much room for maneuver either. Billy Twomey on another mare Tinka’s Serenade was first to get past the German combination by just two tenths of a second, and then Roger Yves Bost, next in on his young mare Nifrane de Kreisker, removed a stride coming to the last and clipped a second off the Irishman’s time. This was looking unbeatable but you can never say never when the last to jump is Marcus Ehning. Riding his Sandro Boy sired Sabrina, a daring turn to the second last had the desired effect and his time of 39.63 was enough to give him another win on a mare who has barely been unplaced this season. GCT Brazil Begins with Wins for Christian and Luis
 Luis Francisco Azevedo. Photos by Lulu Kyriacou. With the anticipation of seeing the biggest prize in show jumping decided on Saturday and 30’000 at stake for the show’s leading rider and groom, there was much at stake as the last round of the 2010 Global Champions Tour began in Rio De Janeiro tonight. The show started in the best way possible for the Brazilian organisers and audience when Luis Francisco Azevedo won the first class by a whisker from Alvaro de Mirando Neto. Riding his chestnut gelding Une A Basta, Luis Francisco snatched the lead from Edwina Alexander and Kisby with a time of 51.51. Next to go was Alvaro and AD Norson has been prominent in GCT speed classes this year but today was not his night. To screams of encouragement, the pair galloped for the last only for the clock to show 51.68. The Brazilian pair was immediately followed by Denis Lynch and Lacroix but he ended up a second adrift of the winner although 52.66 was good enough for third. Luis Francisco is the youngest son of a famous show jumping family. His father has represented the country at the Olympic Games and his brother Luis Felipe, who went so well in the GCT Grand Prix of Monaco, is also competing here. Show Jumping’s Biggest Ever Prize to Be Decided at GCT Rio24/08/2010 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Over fifty show jumpers including many of the World’s top 30 show jumping riders will be arriving in Rio in the next 48 hours to compete for 620’000 Euro in show prize money and to decide who will head the GCT rankings and carry off the winner’s share of the One Million Euro Bonus. Each rider may count their seven best GCT Grand Prix results toward this end and the top prize is just short of a staggering 317’000 Euro. Currently the leader is Marco Kutscher but he is being pressed by Marcus Ehning and Jos Lansink, any of whom could take the title. Edwina Alexander is currently fourth. This is believed to be the biggest single purse ever awarded in the sport of show jumping and means that if a rider wins both the GCT Rankings title and the GCT Grand Prix of Brazil they could walk away with the best part of half a million Euro. World Number One Kevin Staut will be among the riders trying to prevent the current top three walking away with both prizes. The Bonus breakdown is below and the details of the rider list and show classes can be found on the show’s own site at www.aoihs.com. Other relevant information can be found at www.globalchampionstour.com. G&C Farm and Pablo Barrios Show Solid Results in Europe Barrios and G&C LaGran in Valkenswaard. © Cymon Taylor Wellington, FL – August 18, 2010 – Pablo Barrios and G&C Farm have had a successful summer of showing in Europe, with results at top five-star horse shows like the Global Champions Tour in Chantilly, France and Valkenswaard, Holland, as well as the Dublin International Horse Show CSIO. G&C Farm, owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal of Venezuela, is based in Wellington, FL. Barrios is also based in Wellington, FL, and competes for his home country of Venezuela. Barrios and the G&C horses placed well at their first Global Champions Tour in Chantilly, France, in July. After a quick trip to Puerto Rico, where Barrios won three gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games, he returned to Europe to compete at the Dublin International Horse Show. Barrios and G&C Napoleon, a nine-year-old Selle Francais gelding by Flipper d’Elle, were clear on the first day of competition in Dublin in the speed stakes class. On the second day, Barrios rode G&C LaGran, owned by Barrios and G&C Farm, to 11th place in the €,900 Knight Frank Power and Speed class. GCT Valkenswaard Day One – Ben and Simon Just Quickest
 Ben Maher. Photo credit: Lulu Kyriacou Ben Maher Best in 14 Horse Jump Off 13/08/11 – Ben Maher flew to Valkenswaard from a short holiday break and showed he had made the best of the rest when he snatch victory in the 1.50m class this afternoon in Valkenswaard by only three tenths of a second. Riding Oscar who belongs to Ben’s holiday hosts, Mr and Mrs Cook, he rode a superlative jump off despite losing a stirrup over the second last fence. The win was all the more outstanding because Ben has only been jumping the horse competitively for a few weeks; GCT Chantilly was one of their first international outings together. “He just gets better and better,” said a smiling rider afterwards. Fourteen horses had been presented for the jump off over Uliano Vezzani’s course so the winner was bound to be the one who was the bravest, particularly as there was a long gallop to the last. Bernardo Alves, who was the first one to really attack the jump off course on his Monaco winner Bridgit and his time of 43.67 took nearly three seconds off the previous leaders, Gerco Schroder and Eurocommerce Pennsylvania, who ended up fifth. Emilio Bicocci and Olea brought the crowd to their feet but they could only managed 41.15. Michel Robert tried the same audacious gallop to the last that had worked so well in Chantilly with Kellemoi de Pepita but failed by over a second although 45.62 did earn him 1600 Euro for fourth spot. |
