The London Knights duo of Emily Moffitt and Ben Maher stormed to a GCL Shanghai win by 27 hundredths of a second, taking the lead in the overall ranking.

With enormous pressure on the shoulders of U25 rider Moffitt and teammate Maher, the pair were able to convert their pole position from Friday's first round into a win, with the drama coming right down to the wire as Maher galloped across the finish line on the Poden Farms-owned horse Explosion W (Chacco-Blue x Baloubet Du Rouet). The scarlet team were able to stay ahead of a fierce attempt from Monaco Aces' Simon Delestre and Jerome Guery, who ultimately took second, and Chantilly Pegasus’ Roger-Yves Bost and Dayro Arroyave in third. 

“I’m feeling pretty awesome,” said Moffitt who was riding Tipsy du Terral (Toulon x Quat'sous), “it’s my first GCL [of 2018] and it’s really exciting. I think it’s even better as I’m [in a team] with my trainer, which brings extra excitement. The U25 riders are not expected to win, so this is really cool!”

Teammate Maher said: “We had a lead from round one - I knew we had to jump clear and we managed to do it today."

Asked about the GC Prague Play Offs, he said “the prize money is huge this year, and there are a lot of good riders and horses, so we’re trying to keep up with our ranking - it’s very important for us to make it to Prague.

“Its a long season - we have great horses, Emily is riding amazing so hopefully we have a good season.”

With the 30 points for the win, the Knights have shot to the top of the overall ranking leaderboad with a 62 points tally. Former GCL-champions Valkenswaard United are tied on points, but without a win drop below the Knights in the overall leaderboard. The Prague Lions hold on to third, with a score of 56 points so far as the season now heads to Europe, for round four of the 2018 GCL race.