Edited press release from Longines Global Champions Tour
Leading the victory gallop in the city where dreams are made, with a spectacular win in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of New York was Daniel Deusser of Germany and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z (Otangelo x Mr. Blue). It was a nail-biting jump-off of just four top combinations, and they all finished within half a second of each other.
Under the watchful eye of the Statue of Liberty, Daniel Deusser and his iconic partner were last to go in the jump-off, securing victory with a time of 41.07 seconds. Thrilling the full-capacity crowd, they nipped the win away from Pieter Devos and the flashy MoM’s Toupie de La Roque (Kannanx Nabab de Reve), whose second place has added himself to be in contention for the overall season championship title. Malin Baryard-Johnsson (SWE) on H&M Indiana (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Animo's Hallo) completed the podium, finishing third ahead of Shane Sweetnam (IRL) on Alejandro (Acorado's Ass x Continue) in fourth and Mclain Ward (USA) on Contagious (Contagio x For Keeps) in fifth.
Daniel Deusser told GCTV: “If it works out like that when you’re last to go in the jump-off and you finish in first place, then it’s always fun! It started very well and I could have done one less stride to fence 13 so I knew it would be close. I was a little bit lucky. That’s the game you play at the end. Today with the sun and especially the crowd here, it was a lot of fun to jump here in New York. It was a super day, thank you to the public for cheering us on. We’ll see you next year again!”
This was only Tobago’s fourth show back after a break, and Deusser is ecstatic to have one of his top horses return to the top: “This means that Tobago is back in shape. I won already the (LGCT) Grand Prix of Cannes with Bingo Ste Hermelle, which was a big achievement. I’m very happy and proud that Tobago is finally getting back into form, and I hope to enjoy him a little bit longer.”
The current season championship standings following the LGCT Grand Prix of New York and the only three riders in contention for winning the 2022 title going into the Final in Riyadh (21-23 October) are as follows:
1. Ben Maher 250
2. Pieter Devos 244
3. Christian Ahlmann 238