Valkenswaard United team, winner of the GCL Madrid, Marques de Riscal Trophy
16 May 2025The CSI5* Longines Global Champions Tour 2025 got underway on the afternoon of Friday, May 16 with two races, both Marqués de Riscal Trophy, which determined the outcome of the Madrid venue for the Global Champions League.
Valkenswaard United riders led the round of honor
Two very high level classes made up the afternoon program of the first day of the CSI5* LGCT Madrid. Both, sponsored by Marqués de Riscal, had their individual classification and also served to establish the final classification of the Madrid venue in terms of the Global Champions League, the team competition of the Global Champions Tour.
The first Marqués de Riscal Trophy, with heights of 1'55 meters, had 14 rounds without fault and an Irish winner. The protagonist of the triumph, Cian O'Connor, who completed his course with “Gengis Kann de Londe” in a time of 66'86. Jerome Guery was the closest to the Irish rider's result, with 68'17 on “Killer Queen”, while a Spanish rider, member of the St.Tropez Pirats team, Mariano Martínez Bastida, was third with “Jup” (68'97).
The second event of the afternoon was again the Marqués de Riscal Trophy, but this time with heights of 1'60 meters and being the second event scoring for the team classification of the Global Champions League. In this case, the winner was Simon Delestre, who set the pace with “Dexter Fontenis Z”. The French rider and the 12-year-old son of “Diarado” stopped the timer in 68'75, while the Italian Emanuele Camilli was second with “Chacco's Girlstar” (69'22) and third, the German Jana Wargers with “Dorette OLD” (70'47).
Mariano Martínez Bastida made zero again and was once again the best Spaniard in the classification of the test, placing thirteenth, in this case with “Origi Van't Geyzeven”.
Victory for Valkenswaard United
With the results of both classes, the Valkenswaard United team was first in the final team classification of the Madrid venue, scoring for the Global Champions League. Germany's Hans Dieter Dreher with “Elysium” and Belgium's Gilles Thomas with the great stallion “Ermitage Kalone” finished the first test with 4 points, while in the second round Marcus Ehning with “Coolio 42” and Gilles Thomas with “Luna Van Her Dennehof” both scored zero points.
Valkenswaard United finished the day with 4-149'55, while second place went to Shanghai Swans, who fielded Christian Ahlmann and Katharina Rhomberg. In third place was the St.Tropez Pirates team (8-149'95), with a decisive zero by Spaniard Mariano Martinez Bastida with “Origi Van't Geyzeven” in the second round.
Jan Tops, founder of the Global Champions Tour, presented the cup to the winning team, while Pedro Aznar, national commercial director of Marqués de Riscal, presented a seat and a bottle of the brand. After these results of the Madrid venue, Shanghai Swans leads the provisional classification of the Global Champions League with 96 points, with the second teams, Cannes Star and Valkenswaard United with 83 points.
Tomorrow the competition will resume at 10:15 with the CSI1* Mahou Trophy, followed by the Caixabank Trophy at 13:00, a 1.40 m test that will close this category. In the afternoon, the CSI5* will start at 16:00, with the Eulen Group Trophy (1.45 m), and at 18:00 the most awaited competition of the day will take place: the Copa H.M. El Rey - Caser Grupo Helvetia, with obstacles up to 1.50 m.
In addition, the commercial village will continue with proposals for all audiences: food trucks, the Pony Park ¡HOLA!, children's activities and much more.
For those who cannot attend in person, the CSI1* races can be followed free of charge in more than 200 countries through ClipMyHorse.TV, while the CSI5* races will be broadcast on GCTV, the official channel of the circuit.
Tickets are now on sale
Tickets can be purchased through the website www.oxersport.com, with prices starting at 17€ for adults and from 10€ for children. Children under 7 years old will be admitted free of charge.