Bengtsson closes in on GCT lead
Netherlands
STRONG contingent of Olympic contenders received an enthusiastic send-off at their final rehearsal before Rio — none more so than GCT grand prix victor Rolf-Göran Bengtsson of Sweden, who impressed once
Aagain with the mighty 17-yearold stallion Casall ASK.
This partnership of 11 years looked at ease as the tempo, and the pressure, increased and, from penultimate draw in the third and final round, they struck gold with the winning time, a fraction ahead of Laura Kraut and Cavalia of the USA.
“I tried to go as quickly as I could, and today I was the lucky one,” said Rolf, who now sits second in the GCT standings behind Edwina Tops-Alexander, with John Whitaker leading the Brits in 10th.
“I am not going to give up
[on the overall championship],” he added.
Great Britain’s Laura Renwick earned yet another GCT winner’s rug in Saturday’s high-octane speed class with Heliodor Hybris.
“I knew it was going to be a fast class and I was early to go,” said Laura. “I saw [eventual third placed] Conor Swail go, luckily, and tried to do what he did and I was just a bit quicker — then I had to hang on in there.
“My horse jumped two great rounds in the big class the day before and was so unlucky with just one fence in the jump-off, so he deserved this win,” added Laura, who described her show as “busy but productive”.
British riders were also busy in the CSI2* and Mark Armstrong landed the 1.35m small tour final on the 11-yearold Balougio III, while the big tour final fell to the Irish, courtesy of Darragh Kenny with the 11-year-old Action Breaker
Longines Global Champions Tour, Valkenswaard CSI5*/2*
mare Fixdesign Funke Van’t Heike, scooping €8,250 (£7,000). In the medium tour final, Helen Tredwell was best of the Brits in third on Larksong, where just half a second separated the podium finishers.
British rider Tim Wilks and the six-year-old Kay, by Echo Van Het Neerenbosch, won a class in the young horse section, as did Darragh Kenny with Audi’s Fanmail Z. Tim went on to finish runner-up to Marc Houtzager (Mr Europe) in the final, collecting €1,000, with Laura Renwick third on another six-year-old, Alothain De Blondel.
Alicia Store (Uriko Van Sint Antoniushoeve), James Emblen (Skelwith Lady Delilah) and Abbie Summers (Quantas) kept the British flag flying with victories in the show’s special invitationals. H&H