As appeared on Longines Global Champions Tour, April 2022.
By Michael Doherty
Over 1/3 of the horses competing at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Mexico this week, are the offspring of stallions who themselves competed on the Longines Global Champions Tour circuit in past seasons. Seven of those twenty-five stallions are even former Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix winners.
While most of the seven winning stallions are since retired from the sport, one is still active at the highest level. Balou du Reventon, the current ride of USA’s Brian Moggre, won the Chantilly Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in 2019 with former rider, Darragh Kenny (IRL). For the first time this season, we will see one of Balou du Reventon’s offspring compete at a leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour, when Mexico’s own Nicolas Pizzaro lines out on Mike Wazowsk (breeder: Gestüt Lewitz/Paul Schockemöhle).
For several seasons, the incredible partnership of Casall ASK and Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson recorded Grand Prix victories throughout the world. Wins included the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Chantilly, London, Monaco, Valkenswaard, Paris, Rome and, on two separate occasions, Doha and Hamburg. Two Casall daughters compete at Mexico this week; Calleryama (breeder: Jutta Struve) with Belgium’s Gilles Thomas & Catenda (breeder: Detlef Hennings) with Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander.
Three of Marcus Ehning’s (GER) former Longines Global Champions Tour stallions are the sires of horses at this year’s event in Mexico; Comme Il Faut, Cornado NRW & Plot Blue. Cornado NRW being the only one of the three without a Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix win to his name.
Comme Il Faut, a winner of Vienna Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, is the sire of three horses competing at Mexico; Chao Lee (breeder: Otter Eckermann) with Miami winner Katrin Eckermann (GER), Comme-Laude-W (breeder: Herbert Werth) with Dutch rider Bart Bles & Come On Jumper (breeder: Johannes Ruter) with Jeanne Sadran (FRA). Plot Blue, a Longines Global Champions Tour winner in both Cannes and Magna Racino, is the sire of Dutch rider Jur Vrieling’s Fiumicino van de Kalevallei (breeder: Geert De Sloover). Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum partners Cool Feeling (breeder: Ulrich Putz), the sole Cornado NRW offspring at Mexico.
Harrie Smolders’ long-time partner, and Chantilly Longines Global Champions Tour winner, Emerald, has two offspring entered, both with German riders. Christian Ahlmann with Mandato van de Neerheide (breeder: Eric Van Giel), and Christian Kukuk with Nice van’t Zorgvliet (breeder: Clarysse Van Coppenolle).
Glock’s London, a former winner of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in both Cannes and Vienna, under Dutch rider Gerco Schröder, is the sire of Shane Breen’s Z7 Ipswich (breeder: Van der Kloet – Jooken).
In 2011, Ireland’s Billy Twomey won the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Valencia, riding Je T’Aime Flamenco – the sire of Edwina Tops-Alexander’s Mexico mount Fellow Castlefield (breeder: M. Liefhebber).
Verdi TN brings the total number of Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix winning stallions, who have offspring competing at Mexico’s Campo Marte, to seven. A former winner in Madrid under Maikel van der Vleuten, Verdi has two ten-year-old offspring lining out this week; Jordy Van Massenhove’s home-bred Equine America Verdiamo Z & Haraminka P (breeder: Pegasus Stables), with Mexico’s own Jose Antonio Chedraui Prom.
