World number one Scott Brash will be aiming to make history again this weekend (12-14 November), as he attempts to claim his third consecutive title at the Longines Global Champions Tour (GCT) final in Doha, Qatar.
The best showjumpers from across the globe will compete against the Scotsman during Saturday’s grand prix at the state-of-the-art Al Shaqab Equestrian Centre.
Scott, who is the current Longines ranking leader, will partner his Olympic champion mount Hello Sanctos — the gelding who helped him secure the €1million Rolex grand slam bonus in September.
The prestigious final is the culmination of 15 GCT legs, held throughout the year across the world. London hosted the 11th leg of the tour in July.
West Sussex-based Scott holds a two-point advantage over Luciana Diniz in the current rankings. The Portuguese showjumper, hoping for her first GCT final title, is taking her grand prix-winning horses Winningmood and Fit For Fun to Doha.
Celebrating 10 years of exciting competition, the GCT final offers a grand prix prize pot of €450,000 (£320,000) and a bonus championship fund of €1m (£712,000).
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson — third in the rankings behind Scott and Luciana — will also have his eyes on the GCT title. Riding his willing partner Casall ASK, the Swedish rider has already enjoyed emphatic grand prix wins at two of the legs in London and Rome.
John Whitaker and his brother Michael, along with Ben Maher and Bertram Allen, who won the Paris leg, will also be among the British and Irish riders.
The three-day competition can be watched via livestreaming.
H&H’s Pippa Roome will be reporting from Doha and providing web reports and video interviews following each day’s action. Don’t miss the full report in next week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine — on sale 19 November.
