The first round of GCL Miami Beach kicked off with the Monaco Aces’ formidable duo of Jerome Guery and Julian Epaillard taking an early lead at the spectacular US destination.

From the start, team strategy and tactics were clear, with many fielding their star strikers for the second leg of the GCL race. With every point counting as the teams look to the GC Prague Play Offs, every decision will come under scrutiny as the season long battle unfolds. Fans packed the length of the arena, just moments from the picture-perfect Atlantic ocean, and were treated to a world-class display of top sport and show jumping expertise.

Despite the heavy-weight line up, the course challenged the very best in the sport and after the only double clear in the intense team competition, the Aces are in the driving seat heading into Saturday’s GCL Miami Beach climax. The Scandinavian Vikings sit second on four penalties following punchy efforts from Leopold van Asten and Christian Ahlmann, with the Prague Lions taking third with six faults, represented by Gerco Schröder and U25 rider Anna Kellnerova. The Doha Fursan Qatar team (Sheikh Ali Al Thani and Bassem Mohammed) are also on six penalties, but lie in fourth due to their combined slower time.

“The plan was to try to ride a clear,” said Guery of the Aces team, who piloted the 12-year-old Belgian stallion Garfield de Tiji des Templiers. “The pressure was really on Julien after my round, and he did an amazing job today. To start with a double clear is amazing, but we still have a job to do on Saturday.”

French rider Epaillard, whose 70.54-second round on the Diamond de Semilly-stallion Safari D'Auge was the fastest of any team rider, added: “I felt positive motivation from our first rider having a clear. First we tried for a clear and decided to worry about the time later, but the horses jumped really well — and we’ll try again to get the job done on Saturday.”