04/12/2022 - 09:43
Remarkable victory of Philipp Weishaupt at the Longines Grand Prix
The CSI 5*W A Coruña saw on Saturday evening the Longines Grand Prix. The result was decided in an exciting jump-off, in which Philipp Weishaupt emerged victorious
The Longines Grand Prix was the only class of the CSI5*W A Coruña today at Casas Novas. With a total prize money of €210,000, €69,300 of which were given to the winner, it was a stellar moment, the previous test of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Casas Novas Trophy, a qualifying leg which will be held tomorrow.
And as any one-of-a-kind test, the Longines Grand Prix had a hard course full of technical difficulties that, together with the 1.55-meter-high obstacles, made things very difficult for the 45 registered pairs. The course consisted of thirteen obstacles with two combinations: a triple-bar triple, oxer and a double of verticals closing a long path on the diagonal of the arena.
Eight contenders managed to rode a perfect round to advance to the jump-off, while two pairs, (formed by Harrie Smolders with "Uricas vd Kattevennen" and the Wilma Hellström aboard "Quinqui Von Hof") were on the verge of the jump-off because of a small penalty for exceeding the time allowed.
In the jump-off, Harry Charles soon moved to the lead. The young British rider and "Billabong du Roumois", winners of Friday's big competition, are in winning form and at the Longines Grand Prix they showed it again. Their 35.58 seconds over the 7 obstacles and 8 efforts of the jump-off pushed them to the lead and with the gut feeling of being the possible winners for the second consecutive day.
But in a competition full of elite riders and horses, with some of the world Top Ten competing in Casas Novas, anything could happen. And it happened. After Harry Charles, Philipp Weishaupt went out to the track with the Hanoverian "Coby" ready to race to the top. It was noticed from its first long gallop from one to two and then went further in its pace as the round went on. Tight turn on the right to tackle the oxer and tight turn on the left to jump the vertical Prosegur, penultimate obstacle of the course. And again strong galloped to the Longines vertical that closed the pattern.
Weishaupt flew through the arena at Casas Novas with “Coby", which already has experience in winning 5* Grand Prix and transmitted the excitement to the audience. For the second consecutive day grandstands were packed. When the pair crossed the finish line, the stopwatch stopped at 34.19 seconds, a remarkable margin to beat young Charles and be the well-deserved winner of the Longines Grand Prix.
With Harry Charles in second place, third place went to Ireland's Jack Ryan with "Guppie VDL" and fourth to Sweden's Petronella Andersson with "Claptonn Mouche". The four rode a perfect round in the jump-off were clasified in this order, Jack Whitaker, Pieter Devos, Olivier Philippaerts, Marie Valdar Longem and Martin Fuchs.
As for the Spanish riders, the best classified in the Longines Grand Prix was Armando Trapote, twelfth with "Tornado VS", getting 4 points. This classification gave him the Sensormatic Trophy, which he received from Carlos Gómez García, General Director of Sensormatic Iberia.
The Longines Grand Prix trophy was given to the winner, Philipp Weishaupt, by Flora Pérez Marcote. Elena Orozco, Brand Manager of Longines Spain, gave him with a magnificent Longines watch.
And as any one-of-a-kind test, the Longines Grand Prix had a hard course full of technical difficulties that, together with the 1.55-meter-high obstacles, made things very difficult for the 45 registered pairs. The course consisted of thirteen obstacles with two combinations: a triple-bar triple, oxer and a double of verticals closing a long path on the diagonal of the arena.
Eight contenders managed to rode a perfect round to advance to the jump-off, while two pairs, (formed by Harrie Smolders with "Uricas vd Kattevennen" and the Wilma Hellström aboard "Quinqui Von Hof") were on the verge of the jump-off because of a small penalty for exceeding the time allowed.
In the jump-off, Harry Charles soon moved to the lead. The young British rider and "Billabong du Roumois", winners of Friday's big competition, are in winning form and at the Longines Grand Prix they showed it again. Their 35.58 seconds over the 7 obstacles and 8 efforts of the jump-off pushed them to the lead and with the gut feeling of being the possible winners for the second consecutive day.
But in a competition full of elite riders and horses, with some of the world Top Ten competing in Casas Novas, anything could happen. And it happened. After Harry Charles, Philipp Weishaupt went out to the track with the Hanoverian "Coby" ready to race to the top. It was noticed from its first long gallop from one to two and then went further in its pace as the round went on. Tight turn on the right to tackle the oxer and tight turn on the left to jump the vertical Prosegur, penultimate obstacle of the course. And again strong galloped to the Longines vertical that closed the pattern.
Weishaupt flew through the arena at Casas Novas with “Coby", which already has experience in winning 5* Grand Prix and transmitted the excitement to the audience. For the second consecutive day grandstands were packed. When the pair crossed the finish line, the stopwatch stopped at 34.19 seconds, a remarkable margin to beat young Charles and be the well-deserved winner of the Longines Grand Prix.
With Harry Charles in second place, third place went to Ireland's Jack Ryan with "Guppie VDL" and fourth to Sweden's Petronella Andersson with "Claptonn Mouche". The four rode a perfect round in the jump-off were clasified in this order, Jack Whitaker, Pieter Devos, Olivier Philippaerts, Marie Valdar Longem and Martin Fuchs.
As for the Spanish riders, the best classified in the Longines Grand Prix was Armando Trapote, twelfth with "Tornado VS", getting 4 points. This classification gave him the Sensormatic Trophy, which he received from Carlos Gómez García, General Director of Sensormatic Iberia.
The Longines Grand Prix trophy was given to the winner, Philipp Weishaupt, by Flora Pérez Marcote. Elena Orozco, Brand Manager of Longines Spain, gave him with a magnificent Longines watch.
