The main prize at the Longines Global Champions tour show jumping event – the Casino of Monte-Carlo Trophy – was won on Sunday by Egypt’s Abdel Said, who took the best time in a six-rider jump-off on his 10-year-old mare, Hope van Scherpen Donder.
“I’m delighted with Hope. She stepped up her game. It’s a fantastic show here at the LGTC Monaco, all the best riders are here and I’m delighted with the win today,” he said.
Heaping more praise on his mount, he added: “She’s very special in many ways … I believe in her and she always wins the class for me when it counts.”
The annual Longines Global Champions tour horse-jumping event transformed the Port Hercule into an equestrian centre for three days, starting Friday, and rather like the Grand Prix, this is very much a people occasion as well as an important stage in the global jumping calendar.
Among the weekend crowd were Attina Onassis and Bill Gates, as well as Monaco’s own Charlotte Casiraghi, elder daughter of Princess Caroline, and an equestrian in her own right.
Rather like the more famous Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Monaco stage of the tour is distinguished not only by the stunning location, but by the small size of the arena, which straddles the pit lane.
Monaco is the seventh stage on the 15-stage Longines tour, which continues to Paris on June 30.