In a breath-taking display of power and precision the London Knights duo of Emily Moffitt and Ben Maher stormed to a GCL Shanghai win by 27 hundredths of a second, taking the lead in the overall ranking.

With enormous pressure on the shoulders of U25 rider Moffitt and teammate Maher, the pair were able to convert their pole position into a win, with the drama coming right down to the wire as Maher galloped across the finish line with Poden Farms owned horse Explosion W. The scarlet team were able to stay ahead of a fierce attempt from Monaco Aces Simon Delestre and Jerome Guery, who took second, and Chantilly Pegasus’ Roger-Yves Bost and Dayro Arroyave.

Photo: GCL / Stefano Grasso

“I’m feeling pretty awesome,” said Moffit, “it’s my first GCL this year and it’s really exciting. I think it’s even better as I’m [in a team] with my trainer, which brings extra excitement. The U25 riders are not expected to win, so this is really cool!”

Teammate Maher said: “We had a lead from Round 1 – I knew we had to jump clear and we managed to do it today.”

Asked about the GC Prague Play Offs, he said “the prize money is huge this year, and there are a lot of good riders and horses, so we’re trying to keep up with our ranking – it’s very important for us to make it to Prague.

“Its a long season – we have great horses, Emily is riding amazing so hopefully we have a good season.”

Team London Knights’ Ben Maher and Emily Moffitt triumph in GCL of Shanghai. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCL

Over 20,000 fans and guests are expected at the Shanghai Longines Global Champions Tour. The exceptional exhibition village was buzzing with atmosphere as families shopped and took photographs against spectacular floral displays, pop up boutiques and booths by Longines, Massimo Dutti and BMW. Fans went wild for autographs with the top international and local riders, and with high profile guests, including actress and Longines Ambassador of Elegance Lin Chi Ling.

Crowds took their seats for the GCL Shanghai final, powered by BMW, with spectators gasping and cheering at every fence, riding each stride with the world’s best athletes. Uliano Vezzani’s course was another technical test for the world’s best teams, with a choice of strides throughout the 1.55/1.60m course. Full power oxers required plenty of scope, and delicate verticals plenty of care, rolling at the lightest of touches. A Longines double off the corner, away from the in-gate picked up a few faults, and a treble combination towards the end of the course caught out many more.

London Knights’ combination of Ben Maher and U25 rider Emily Moffitt had all the pressure on their shoulders, as the leading team heading into the final and on a score of zero. With the starting order determined by the results from Friday’s Round 1, they would have a long wait, with the pressure ever-mounting, before they would take to the arena.

Team London Knights – Emily Moffitt (GBR) on Tipsy du Terral. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCL

Those early in had faults all over the course, but the imposing treble looked to be the most challenging combination of the competition. Cascais Charms fielded their new, but very experienced recruit John Whitaker for this leg of the Championship, who delivered the first brilliant clear on Cassinis Chaplin. Just an unlucky time fault added to their overnight score of 13, and 12 more faults from U25 rider Philip Houston dropped the Charms down to a total of 26 overall and out of the running.

Ales Opartny of the Prague Lions delivered a foot-perfect clear for the team, with the eye catching VDL Fakir drawing cheers from the crowd. This was neatly followed up by teammate Niels Bruynseels and Cas de Liberte, who rode a beautiful clear, putting the Lions back in with a chance – carrying 12 faults from their first round, but with a nervous wait to see if they could rise up the order.

Madrid in Motion also pulled a double clear out the hat, after Marc Houtzager and Michael G Duffy nailed the technical course, keeping the team on their score of 8 faults from Friday.

The Montreal Diamonds had everything to do, lying in 14th after a tricky round for the team. U25 rider Jos Verlooy picked up the reins with Igor for the GCL Shanghai final, coming off the bench for Danielle Goldstein,  but had unlucky rail at the treble, visibly disappointed as he exited the arena. Anchor Harrie Smolders made his return to the Championship in Shanghai, and truly delivered, putting in a sublime clear with top stallion Don VHP Z, thrilling the crowd who gasped as he rattled a pole at the end of the treble – luck was on the Dutch rider’s side.

Despite the tough track, many riders pulled a clear out of the bag for their team, including Lorenzo de Luca of the Rome Gladiators, Christian Ahlmann of Scandinavian Vikings, Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani of Doha Fursan Qatar, Dayro Arroyave of Chantilly Pegasus, and Daniel Deusser of home city team Shanghai Swans.

St Tropez Pirates also shot up the leaderboard after a double clear from the two riders – Athina Onassis who just picked up a couple of time faults after a brilliant round on MHS Going Global, and Edwina Tops-Alexander on Inca Boy. Tops-Alexander kept her cool, managing the bouncy gelding beautifully – the elastic horse responding magnificently to her requests and showing true class in the testing arena.

Ranking leaders Valkenswaard United carried through their four faults from Friday, but Alberto Zorzi – a rider on the team for three years – delivered a perfect round with Contanga, heaping the pressure on his teammate Jur Vrieling, who makes his debut on the GCL team series this season. The treble combination proved costly, with the experienced Dutch rider collecting a fence, adding a further four faults to the team total to keep them on eight.

Monaco Aces temporarily took over the lead, with best friends Simon Delestre and Jerome Guery delivering a masterclass of rounds, bringing them back up the order and into contention.

Team Monaco Aces – Simon Delestre (FRA) on Gain Line. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCL

All eyes turned to the Berlin Eagles, one of the only two teams to head into the GCL Shanghai final on a zero score. First to go was Christian Kukuk and the blue-eyed Limoncello, but the troublesome treble caught them out, with the pair picking up 4 faults and putting them on a level-pegging with Monaco Aces. Olympic Champion Ludger Beerbaum had everything to do to keep the team on the podium, bringing out top mare Chiara for this crucial round. Making his return from injury last year, Beerbaum and Chiara showcased an enviable partnership, but were caught out on the final part of the treble and dropping the Eagles down to 8 faults overall.

Last to go London Knights knew a double clear would secure them the win, and the crowd held their breath as the scarlet coated Ben Maher and Emily Moffitt entered the arena. First to go was U25 talent Emily Moffitt and Tipsy du Terral, the pair clearly going for a clear round over speed. The first part of the treble came down, heaping the pressure on the shoulders of Ben Maher who would need to go clear, and very fast, to better the Monaco Aces.

Indeed an explosion of speed and power from Maher and Explosion W is what was needed, and the pair pulled out all the stops, racing around the arena but taking care to keep all the fences up. The fans, and teammate Moffitt held their breath as the duo headed towards the tricky treble, but Maher showed all his experience, mastering the strides perfectly and guiding the chestnut horse the the final two fences. Time was tight, but Maher cleared the final two, pushing through the finish line to stop the clock just 27 hundredths of a second ahead of Monaco Aces, and securing the win.

Lap of honor for the winning team London Knights. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCL

With the 30 points for the win, the Knights have shot to the top of the overall ranking leaderboad with a 62 points tally. Former Champions Valkenswaard United are tied on points, but without a win drop below the Knights in the overall leaderboard. The Prague Lions hold on to third, with a score of 56 points so far.