Bertram Allen closed the Longines Global Champions Tour of Stockholm weekend with a win on Pacino Amiro in a lightning-fast €148,800 1.55m jump-off class.
With the Olympic Stadium packed to the rafters, the Irish rider defeated Daniel Deusser on Jasmien vd Bisschop to take the win by just 0.04 seconds. Local hero Peder Fredricson finished the podium off to take bronze on Catch Me Not S.
“A thrilling jump-off”
Wexford rider Bertram Allen told GCTV after his winning round:
“All the riders have been talking about it all week, how the atmosphere here is literally one of the best shows all year for that. I was very motivated for today and I wanted to make the most of it.”
“It was definitely a thrilling jump-off, it was fast and with Daniel and Peder both having good rounds I knew I had to take a lot of risks. My horse jumped fantastic today so it was nice to come out on top.”
There was disappointment for many of the top riders as poles fell all around the course, especially for Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann who has been placed first or second in every other CSI5* class this weekend but a fast four faults still put him in the top ten with Glamour Girl.
Nine combinations qualified for the jump-off
It was a fast and furious 9 rider jump-off with Petronella Andersson and Cassina Z the first combination to return to the ring. Unfortunately, the pressure got to them and two down kept them out of contention for the win.
Jérôme Guery was the first to go clear with his relatively new ride Azaria Dinero. They threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the field stopping the clock in 36.38 seconds although he didn’t take out a stride in the first line so left room for improvement.
Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Priam du Roset opted to go very tight in the roll back that proved a little too much as he had to pull out, adding four faults to his score.
American Georgina Bloomberg with Tulara Colmine put in a top effort with a smooth and effortless double clear just off the time to beat but good enough for a top 5 finish.
Both Marlon Modolo Zanotelli on Luigi d’Eclipse and Michael G Duffy with Clitschko had a rail down and were forced to settle for a placing outside the top 5.
Daniel Deusser and Jasmien vd Bisschop made an amazing rollback to the penultimate fence, risking it all the pair had full trust in each other and managed to pull it off stopping the timers at 35.96 seconds, a time that for a while looked unbeatable.
Winner of this class in 2019 Peder Fredricson wanted to make it a home win on the final day of action onboard Catch Me Not S. They gave it everything fully determined but couldn’t quite match the pace of the speedy German falling just behind him in 36.38 seconds.
Bertram Allen and the huge-striding Pacino Amiro then powered around the course and were exactly level with Daniel at the halfway stage. They sprinted down the final line and took an angle to the last, shaving milliseconds off the time to take the win in 35.92 seconds
The Longines Global Champions Tour head to Paris for round 9 of the Championship from 24 – 26 June.
