British rider Laura Renwick took the final class of the London Longines Global Champions Tour (GCT) in Syon Park on Sunday (26 July).
Laura and nine-year-old gelding Bintang II won the CSI5* Massimo Dutti Trophy in front of the home crowd, ahead of young Italian rider Emanuele Bianchi.
Third place went to Ireland’s Denis Lynch on 12-year-old bay gelding All Star 5.
Fourteen combinations went clear and through to the jump-off, with Denis holding the lead throughout most of it.
However, Laura, as one of the final riders to enter the arena put in a careful round to come home in a time of 37.32, half a second ahead of Emanuele.
“It means everything to me. We’ve had this horse since he was very young; he’s a real talent and today he showed just how much talent he has. He’s not a speed horse but he has a really big stride, which suited the run to the last,” said Laura.
“It’s lovely to be jumping at home, it’s lovely to be at a GCT event and then to win is just the icing on the cake.“
Meanwhile after Saturday’s (25 July) grand prix Scott Brash now heads the GCT rankings.
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson’s first win of the season — narrowly pipping John Whitaker to the spoils — left the Scottish rider ahead in terms of points. Scott’s sixth place finish netted 31 valuable points in the race, putting him in front of former leader Luciana Diniz by 28 points.
“It’s good, I’m pleased to be top at this stage,” said Scott. “I’ll do all the other venues apart from Rome so I’ve got a couple of extra chances. We’ve got to keep going, Rolf is going really well so we’ll keep trying.”
The Tour now heads to Valkenswaard (13-16 August), where the spectacular new Tops International Arena will be unveiled.
The venue promises to be “one of the world’s most spectacular destinations for sport, entertainment and lifestyle” and will be officially opened on 14 August.
