Swede tops ’em all!
SWEDE Rolf-Goran Bengtsson came up with a stunning performance on his 17-year-old stallion Casall in the final leg of Global Champions Tour at the Al Shaqab arena last week to walk away with his maiden Champion of Champions title.
Bengtsson described the feat as a “Dream come true” and hailed his horse as “just amazing” as their 11-year partnership won more admirers with the Doha show.
As the tour, which kicked off at the Miami beach in April, reached its finale in Doha after stopovers in Monaco, Shanghai and Rome, Bengtsson was in pole position with a crucial five-point lead over Edwina Tops-Alexander. Their duel was expected to make the final lap exciting, but the Australian crashed out in the first round.
Edwina rolled two poles astride Lintea Tequila and the eight penalties meant Bengtsson would keep his lead of five points and be crowned the overall winner.
A few more big names fell by the wayside. Scott Brash (Great Britain) was unlucky to pick up four faults and Lauren Hough (USA) collected eight penalties while home hero Sheikh Ali bin Khalid Al Thani also rolled a pole astride his Olympic horse First Devision.
Nine of the 18 riders who progressed to the second round were Germans. And Laura Kraut (USA), Simon Delestre, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Christian Ahlmann, Daniel Deusser and Janne-Freiderike Meyer (all Germany) joined Bengtsson on zero faults to make it to the seven-rider jump-off. Bengtsson, Deusser and Meredith finished first, second and third in that order at the Doha leg.
Bengtsson collected €148,500 as prize money from Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, who watched the action along with the Father Emir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Edwina settled for overall runners-up place while Christian Ahlmann (Germany) came third.
“It was an evening you can dream of,” said Bengtsson.
“My horse Casall is just amazing, still jumping at 17 years. He likes it and makes everything possible. What he has done for me is amazing. I’m really, really happy. If he jumps like this, it’s hard to stop. We’re going to have a discussion in the team. But I feel with Casall right now it would be a shame to put him in a box and say it’s all over,” he added.
Edwina said, “I’m disappointed with myself. I decided to do one less down the line to the double, a little bit off plan, and I paid heavily for it. I’m here, second for a reason and I didn’t deserve to win. Rolf has had an amazing year. He saved the horse up especially for this final, which has paid off.”
And as curtains came down on another tour, it was Bengtsson and Casall’s partnership that won a big round of applause from the spectators. The 54-year-old acknowledged them by raising his hat, patted Casall on his neck and posed for photographs.
