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Inside The Rolex Grand Slam: CHI Geneva and more

Thursday, 03 December 2020
Inside The Rolex Grand Slam

Behind the CHI Geneva with Sophie Mottu Morel, show director

Photo © CHI Geneva / Joseph Carlucci Sophie Mottu Morel. Photo © CHI Geneva / Joseph Carlucci.

 

What can equestrian fans look forward to seeing as part of CHI Geneva Virtual? 

As soon as the cancellation of the CHI Geneva was announced, it was obvious for us to be virtually present from 10-13 December 2020, the original dates of our event. We brainstormed with the team, and our goal was to create something different from what has been done already. That is why we have decided to produce a daily television programme, lasting about one hour, which will include prestigious guests. We have been producing a TV show during the CHI Geneva for a few years now, so we already have a bit of experience in this area. Alban Poudret and Michel Sorg – the voices behind the Geneva CHI – will lead these interviews, which will feature a star guest each day, in the studio or by video conference. The conversations will include anecdotes and memories, and the guests will also comment on some of their favourite courses over the years in Geneva’s Palexpo Arena.

CHI Geneva has been voted the ‘World’s Best Show’ on 10 occasions. Does that phenomenal achievement give you an added incentive to make CHI Geneva Virtual a huge success? 

Winning these awards make us work even harder every year – they drive us to continually surpass ourselves. Accolades like these incentivise us to think differently to our peers – the other great equestrian shows – which is why we have decided to do something unique as part of CHI Geneva Virtual.

What have you most enjoyed about organising CHI Geneva Virtual? 

It has been very exciting to think about the content of each of these four daily programmes. The organisation has taken considerable teamwork from our communication team, including Yannick Guerdat, with whom we will produce the programmes, and Nicolas Bossard, who has been working with us on the programmes since the beginning of CHI Geneva (CHIG) TV.

Breeders Uncovered with Lisa Lourie, breeder at Spy Coast Farm

Photo © Spy Coast Farm Lisa Lourie. Photo © Spy Coast Farm.

 

How did you get into the breeding side of the sport? 

I had a thoroughbred mare, that was a real schoolteacher, who I bred. Her colt had become two and a half, and eventually someone said to me: ‘What are you doing?’, at which point I realised that since it was a thoroughbred, it should have been gone by now! I realised then that there was no way I was going to give up these thoroughbreds, these babies, so young. So, that’s how I got into warmblood breeding, and it made so much more sense to me. I felt I could have an impact in warmblood breeding, but I could really lose my shirt in thoroughbred breeding, which I knew nothing about it, so that’s why I went in that direction.

Which homebred horses are you most proud of? 

Well, probably Kirschwasser SCF – he’s gone on to have a great Grand Prix career with a really enthusiastic rider, Freddie Vasquez, who loves him to death, so I’m super happy about that. There are some exciting ones coming along, but I also have to give a shoutout to my own horse, Nosy Parker SCF, who takes very good care of me. She’s extremely well bred (For Pleasure x Cumano), is very athletic, and she has a fantastic brain in order to tolerate me, but I think I’m going to move her along now, as she’s nearly eight. She has more talent than I have ability, so it would be a good time to move her on.

How long do you keep the foal before it goes on to its next home or before you break it in? 

We typically start them at two and a half years old, so it’s a gradual start. We try to sell them fairly young now, but there’s not a lot of market here in the US for any horse under five or six years old unless they want to buy them as a breeding prospect and then you’re just selling your bloodlines cheaply. I’d rather the good ones go on to have a jumping career before they are used solely to have their bloodlines reproduced.

 


 

About the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping

The Rolex Grand Slam is considered by the sport to be the ultimate equestrian challenge, primarily due to the sporting prowess required to achieve this feat. It is a quest taken on by the world’s top riders, vying to secure the legendary status associated with winning the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping.

The format of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping is simple: anyone who wins three Majors in a row receives the Rolex Grand Slam trophy and a €1 million bonus on top of the class’s prize-money. If that same rider then continues their success by winning a fourth Major in succession, they will be rewarded with an additional €1million bonus. If two shows are won in succession, the bonus is €500,000 or if an athlete wins only 2 majors in a period of four successive shows, the bonus is €250,000.

 


 



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