Last leg of the GCT for Alberto Zoer

The last event of the Global Champions Tour, presented by CN WorldWide and CN, took place at the Olympic Equestrian Center in Markopoulo, Greece.

33 combinations started in the “Alpha Private Bank & CN Grand Prix”. The best 18 combinations came back for the second round, among which were 6 combinations with a clear first round. Among the clear combinations were Meredith Michaels Beerbaum (GER) with Shutterfly, who won in Arezzo two weeks ago, Albert Zoer (NED) with Okidoki who were second in Arezzo and Nick Skelton (GBR) with Arko II, winner of the GCT in Estoril and runner up in Valkenswaard .
In round two nine combinations stayed clear but only four combinations managed to be double clear and advanced to the jump off. First to go was Michael Whitaker (GBR) and Insul Tech Mozart des Hayettes (Papillon Rouge x Nimmerdor) who had the second to last fence down and ended up in fourth place. Fellow British rider Nick Skelton and Arko II (Argentinus x Beach Boy) had a rail down on the same fence and became second. Dutch rider Albert Zoer and Okidoki (Jodokus x Topas) followed with a clear round in the jump off in 40.79 seconds. Albert Zoer: “I tried to be as fast as I could since Shutterlfy was last to go behind me which, is always dangerous. I took some risks but it all went very well right from the first untill the last fence. Unfortunately for Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) and Shutterfly (Silvio I x Forrest) they had the first of the double combination down. With a time of 40.13 seconds the combination finished in third place.

Albert Zoer was clearly very happy with his victory and with his horse: “Okidoki is a wonderfull horse who has had many clear rounds in the past. He sometimes loses some speed in the air and therefore I really feel he has deserved this victory very much”.

Nick Skelton, who has had a very good Global Champions Tour season overall, added: “ These are the competitions we as top riders have to ride. With this system we are able to keep our good horses longer, we can earn more money and keep the owners and sponsors happy as well. I think the Global Champions Tour is a very attractive concept for everybody”.

ALPHA PRIVATE BANK & CN GRAND PRIX
8th leg of the Global Champions Tour
Dedicated to the memory of Christina Onassis
Art. 273.2.2+3.1, 1,60m

1º Okidoki / Albert Zoer (Ned) / 0 / 0 / 0 – 40.79
2º Arko III / Nick Skelton (Gbr) / 0 / 0 / 0- 40.09
3º Shutterfly / Meredith Michaels Beerbaum / 0 / 0 / 4 – 40.13
4º Mozart Des Hayettes / Michael Whitaker (Gbr) / 0 / 0 / 4 – 42.72
5º Koro D´Or / Michel Robert (Fra) / 0 / 1 – 77.54
6º La Toya III / Markus Fuchs (Sui) / 4 / 0 – 76.07
7º Sea Coast Conan / Kristof Cleeren (Bel) / 4 / 0 – 76.49
8º Eurocommerce Milano / Gerco Schröder (Ned) / 0 / 4 – 77.04
9º Ilostra Dark / Eugenie Angot (Fra) / 5/ 0 – 80.44
10º BMC Up And Down / Jeroen Dubbeldam (NED) / 8 / 0 -72.69