The British national anthem rang out three glorious times at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on a sun-drenched opening day of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) of London (16-18 August).
Great Britain’s newly crowned European young rider champion Olli Fletcher was clearly relishing competing back on home soil and he took the opening five-star class, the Roseblood Wine 1.45m two-phase, with an ambitious ride on Cajus 42. This talented 10-year-old son of Comme Il Faut is just stepping up to this level.
“He tried his heart out, bless him – he’s not used to this kind of atmosphere,” said Olli. “I’ve had him for a year now and I’ve always believed in him – he has so much ability and so much talent, it’s just been about fine-tuning the smaller details.
“Nothing beats hearing the national anthem – especially on home soil.”
LGCT London: “Faster than I thought it would be”
In the earlier CSI2* classes, James Whitaker (Just Call Me Henry) and Simon Crippen (Zeus Valencie) scored an exhilarating victory apiece. James’s success came in the Lemieux 1.40m speed class, with “total nutter” Henry.
“He’s only nine but hopefully he’ll keep stepping up and keep going well,” said James. “I think he’s got a touch of ADHD though and he doesn’t like having a rug on, so he took off with me in the prize-giving!”
Simon Crippen gave spectators plenty to cheer about in the 1.25m two-phase Martin Collins London Cup on his LGCT debut.
“The class was faster than I thought it would be, but Zeus Valencie is always a very quick horse and she’s usually there or thereabouts,” said Simon, whose win in London comes in the wake of a tremendous eighth-place finish in the King George V Gold Cup at the Royal International riding Handsome.
Olympic medallists in action on day one
The opening class of the day, the CSI2* 1.15m GCTV two-phase went to show debutant Ali Hussain Alnowais of the UAE riding the lovely mare Celine 267.
Day one concluded with a French victory for Simon Delestre, fresh from his team bronze medal-winning performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He claimed the €7,050 top prize with Olga Van De Kruishoeve, nearly half a sec clear of the chasing pack. John Whitaker received a hero’s welcome and finished best of the Brits in this class in fourth riding Sharid.
Simon Delestre was up against a raft of recent Olympic medallists at the show, including the newly crowned Olympic champion Christian Kukuk and Britain’s gold medal-winning heroes Harry Charles and Scott Brash. Ben Maher was on team duties in Dublin on Friday, helping Great Britain finish third behind USA and Ireland in the Nations Cup of Ireland by The Underwriting Exchange, before he is set to join his team-mates in London for a celebratory Olympic ceremony on Saturday.
You can follow all the action at the LGCT London with Horse & Hound and we’ll bring you all the news and insight in next week’s magazine, in the shops Thursday 22 August.
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