Manama: Shaikh Hassan bin Rashid Al Khalifa placed ninth in the CSI2 GP of the Global Champions tour of London.
Riding his own horse, HBR Vance, Bahrain’s showjumping team captain finished his round clear on jumping faults but picked up one time fault as he crossed the finish line in a time of 83.38, which kept him out of the jump off.
Rainy conditions made the GP even more challenging and only eight riders managed to go clear on the twisting Uliano Vezzani designed course that was eventually won by American Emma Heise.
Shaikh Hassan, who trains in the UK with Olympic gold medallist Ben Maher, narrowly missed out on a GP podium finish as the first eight places were classified podium due the difficulty of the event.
The Longines Global Champions Tour is the World’s premier five-star show jumping event and is considered to be the F1 of showjumping world.
The GCT brings together the top 30 ranked show jumpers in the world to compete in 15 prestigious locations for unprecedented prize money and is watched by millions of viewers worldwide.
Shaikh Hassan said: ‘I’m proud of being able to represent the kingdom on the biggest stage of the showjumping world. To come to a GCT event and finish in the money of a GP is huge!
“I wish we didn’t have the time fault and were able to compete in the jump off for a place on the podium. But it’s only the third show with HBR Vance. We are only just beginning to connect.
“We’ve been training very hard. I’m happy about how we jumped and I’m looking forward to building on this result as there are a few big shows coming up on the schedule.”
Shaikh Hassan, who competes for team HBR Equestrian and is the highest ranked Bahraini rider on the Longines World Ranking list, will be competing in the Brussles Masters, Vienna GCT, Horse of the Year Show, and Doha GCT as well as other shows in the upcoming months.
Shaikh Hassan thanked Breef Chairman Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid Al Khalifa and Breef Showjumping Committee President Shaikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Khalifa for their continued support.