LGCT Berlin: Fourth time lucky for Alberto Zorzi

It was fourth time lucky for Alberto Zorzi, who secured his first win of the season at the Berlin leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT).

Zorzi, of Italy, had finished on the podium three times during the 16 legs of the Tour season so far. But he finally triumphed in Saturday’s eight-horse jump-off in Berlin’s Sommergarten.

“I tried hard today,” Zorzi said in a news conference after securing the second LGCT victory of his career. “She’s an amazing horse, she is top fit now.”

‘Hard to beat’

Zorzi, 29, started riding at the age of nine. He currently trains at Stal Tops in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands, which is owned by LGCT founder and president Jan Tops.

“Alberto had his day, everything went for him,” said Tops, who won team gold with the Dutch team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. “He was hard to beat for any rider.”

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Zorzi and his Belgian-bred mare, Fair Light van T Heike, produced a clear round in a winning time of 35.53 seconds, or 1.1 seconds faster than Germany’s Christian Ahlmann and Clintrexo Z, and more than two seconds ahead of Belgian’s Pieter Devos and Claire Z, who finished in third place.

“Alberto was really, really quick and I tried to do my best,” Ahlmann told reporters. “At the end, in the jump-off to the last fence, I lost my left stirrup and I had to do one [stride] extra. Maybe had the possibility to win at the end.”

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Zorzi to Prague

Zorzi’s victory in Berlin, in front of a sellout crowd of 6,000, will guarantee him a spot at December’s lucrative Global Champions playoffs in Prague.

“I started a bit so-so, but the last three weeks is very good for me, the horses are good and we keep going,” said Zorzi, who had finished on the podium in Mexico City, Chantilly and Monaco.

Maher’s travel nightmare

After his first win of the season, Zorzi is now lying in fourth place on the overall leaderboard with 202 points.

It was an eventful weekend for overall LGCT leader Ben Maher, who arrived too late to compete in Berlin after his journey from Britain was delayed by thunderstorms.

“I had a few problems between yesterday and this morning, I did my best to get here but it wasn’t meant to be,” said Maher, who remains in the lead with 237 points.

Ben Maher

Defending champion Harrie Smolders of the Netherlands is second with 215 points while Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander is lying in third place with 212 points.

“London is next week, it’s our home show and maybe things are done for a reason,” said Maher. “My horse had a nice holiday in Berlin, and he is going to travel home after some nice German sunshine.”

Global Champions League

Earlier in the day, Tops-Alexander and Devos produced two double clear rounds to secure a second victory for St Tropez Pirates in the Longines Global Champions League team event. London Knights finished second, followed by Valkenswaard United in third.

The Knights are the overall leaders with 269 points, 21 points clear of United in second place and 54 points ahead of Miami Celtics in third. St Tropez Pirates are ranked 8th with 166 points.

“It’s fantastic,” said Tops-Alexander. “We really needed to have a win - it’s pushed us back up again, and we’d really like to get to the Playoffs, so it was a great day today. We both focused on trying to jump double clear and it worked.”

Only the top 16 teams will qualify for the GC Play Offs and GCL Super Cup in Prague, where a record €12 million in prize money is at stake.

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The next leg of the LGCT will be staged at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in the heart of London on 3-5 August.