Photo: Katja Stuppia/Longines CSI Basel.
The 7th annual Longines CSI Basel took place over the weekend in Basel, Switzerland, featuring heated indoor Grand Prix competition.
A total of 17 classes were held, with nine of the 11 international competitions counting toward world rankings, three of them with double points.
Here’s a roundup of who won what (view complete results here):
Prize of the Bank J. Safra Sarasin
Frenchman and 20009 European Champion Kevin Staut won the first main competition of the weekend, the 1.5-meter Prize of the Bank J. Safra Sarasin. He and his Dutch mare Elky won the class by nearly two seconds, besting Sergio Alvarez Moya of Spain, last year’s winner of the World Cup class in Zürich. Twelve of 53 competitors finished the course clear. [Results]
Kevin Staut (FRA), Elky van het Indihof HDC. Photo: Katja Stuppia/Longines CSI Basel.
Championat of Basel
Another Frenchman, Simon Delestre, took the 1.55-meter Championat of Basel with the Hanoverian Chesall. He 18750 Swiss Francs and the “Golden Drum,” a special carnival drum-inspired trophy inspired by the competition’s local identity. The jump off was an intense one, with the difference between 2nd placed Niklaus Rutschi of Switzerland and 3rd placed Luciana Diniz from Portugal being just one-hundreth of a second. [Results]
Simon Delestre (FRA) and Chesall. Photo: Katja Stuppia/Longines CSI Basel.
International Amateur Competition
Twenty-five year old Jason Smith of Scotlandand his Hanoverian mare Gleen Love won the final of the 1.35-meter International Amateur Competition, taking home 2500 Swiss Francs as his prize. On his heels in the seven-obstacle jump-off were three Swiss riders, Salome Lüdi, Bryan Balsiger and Thomas Buholzer. Smith was the last rider in the jump-off and zipped around nearly a second faster than the leader Lüdi. [Results]
Jason Smith (GBR) and Gleen Love. Photo: Katja Stuppia/Longines CSI Basel.
Prize of the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois
Ireland’s Denis Lynch and Abbervail van het Dingeshof won the Prize of the 1.5-meter Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois by 16 hundreths of a second, with Roman Duguet aboard Twentytwo des Biches finishing 2nd. [Results]
Denis Lynch (IRL) and Abbervail van het Dingeshof. Photo: Katja Stuppia/Longines CSI Basel.
Longines Grand Prix
The competition’s grand finale, the 1.6-meter Longines Grand Prix, was run away with by the 41-year-old German Christian Ahlmann. He and Codex One turned in the sole fault-free jump-off round to win 75,000 Swiss Francs, the biggest purse of the weekend. Defending champion Luciana Diniz pulled two fails in the jump-off to finish 3rd on Fit for Fun, while Pénélope Leprevost with Vagabond de la Pomme pulled one to finish second. [Results]
Christian Ahlmann (GER) and Codex One. Photo: Katja Stuppia/Longines CSI Basel.
Go Jumping.