Abdel Saïd and Bonne Amie won the €1.25 million Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix at the GC Prague Playoffs. Photo © Jenny A Photo for World of Showjumping.
Press release from Longines Global Champions Tour, edited by World of Showjumping
Abdel Saïd (BEL) and the outstanding Bonne Amie (A Big Boy x Landfriese) stormed to victory in the €1.25 million Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix at the GC Prague Playoffs. Inside a sold-out O2 Arena, more than 15,000 fans witnessed one of the tightest finishes in Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix-history over two demanding 1.65m rounds.
Shooting straight to the top of the leaderboard, Saïd and the 12-year-old mare Bonne Amie produced two rounds of pure class, finishing on four faults in a lightning-fast 62.43 seconds to secure the biggest win of their career. The Belgian rider delivered under immense pressure, setting the benchmark early in round two and never relinquishing it.
Saïd and the 12-year-old mare Bonne Amie produced two rounds of pure class, finishing on four faults in a lightning-fast 62.43 seconds to secure the biggest win of their career. Photo © Jenny A Photo for World of Showjumping.
Hot on his heels, Simon Delestre (FRA) and the ever-consistent Cayman Jolly Jumper (Hickstead x Quaprice Bois Margot) came agonisingly close, also finishing on four faults, their time of 62.45 seconds missing out on the top spot by just two hundredths of a second – an impossibly narrow margin that electrified the Prague crowd.
Completing the podium, Scott Brash (GBR) and the expressive mare Hello Chadora Lady (Chacco-Blue x Nintender) delivered another formidable performance, stopping the clock in 62.81 seconds, also on four faults, to claim third.
"It’s unbelievable, I am still trying to take it in – I am very proud of my horse,” the beaming winner said. “I am annoyed with myself because that is how we are… we criticise the small thing that went wrong. But she’s a big lady to go fast in an indoor arena. In my heart I knew it was a long shot to win with so many good horses and riders to follow. I certainly didn’t expect to win the LGCT Super Grand Prix in Prague."
"It’s unbelievable, I am still trying to take it in – I am very proud of my horse,” the beaming winner said. Photo © Jenny A Photo for World of Showjumping.
With over 15,700 spectators filling the stands, Simon Delestre spoke of the full house in the incredible O2 arena supporting the field of 15 horse-and-rider combinations every step of the way. "The crowd was amazing tonight, the atmosphere was fantastic,” Delestre said. “After walking round one I thought it was tough enough, and I spoke with Uliano [Vezzani] and he said he was expecting 3-5 clear rounds… and he had 11!"
With a night full of highs and lows, third placed Scott Brash said: "There is always so much drama at this show, you never know what is going to happen next, it’s really entertaining – yesterday was incredible to watch and tonight again – the atmosphere in there is amazing, the crowd, the sound, the audience – it’s just amazing."
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