Edited press release from Longines Global Champions Tour

In what was the perfect ending to an exhilarating three days of competition at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS) and the 13-year-old gelding Fellow Castlefield (Je T'aime Flamenco x Twister) were crowned winners of the 10th edition of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Madrid.

They claimed the top spot on the podium with pride as the Australian national anthem echoed through the stadium, having been the sole pair to finish the first round on zero faults. As a result, they secured the majority of the €500,000 prize pool.

Today’s victory will go down in history as one of the most epic LGCT Grand Prix as Tops-Alexander emerged victorious after an intense and nail-biting competition bringing home her 27th LGCT podium. Collecting his first ever LGCT podium, Andreas Schou (DEN) and Darc de Lux (Darco x Contender) finished in second place just 0.03s over the time allowed. Also with an agonising time fault in round one, Jur Vierling and Long John Silver 3 N.O.P. (Lasino x San Patrignano Corrado) rounded off the podium.

Tops-Alexander also collected her golden ticket to the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix, aiming to repeat history as she won the first ever LGCT Super Grand Prix back in 2018.

Speaking to GCTV after her phenomenal win, an emotional Tops-Alexander smiled: "I have to say, the atmosphere here in Madrid is just amazing. It's electric, it's so exciting, and the crowd is just incredible. I would like to thank Fellow’s owner Athina Onassis. His last Grand Prix was at Valkenswaard in August last year, he then had a little setback and I needed to give him a little bit of time to build up his fitness."

"He’s not a particularly fast horse so I was quite worried. He spooked to number one, I had to do one more from [jumps] 1 to 2 and then I was very worried about my time. I had to really really stay focused, and on top of it and try to jump clear and be slick."

Talking about chasing the Championship she explained: "The season is going really fast but we take it show by show, now we have a plan and we will try to stick to the plan, stay positive and try to get it done. So let’s hope it goes in the right direction."

Beaming following his first ever Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix podium finish, Andreas Schou spoke of his horse in Darc de Lux: "I’m super proud of my horse today, it is the first outdoor show this year, so I wasn't sure how he would take it and he comes out here and proves himself once again."

With Malin Baryard-Johnsson (SWE) not present in Madrid, Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) has taken over as Championship leader with 109 points. Baryard-Johnsson drops to second place staying on 99 points and David Will (GER) doesn’t move in third place on 79 points.