Austria’s Max Kühner won the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco on Saturday evening, the highlight of the LGCT Jumping International of Monte-Carlo. In an extremely difficult Grand Prix where only two couples managed to reach the jump-off, France achieved a good result with four riders among the Top 7.
It seems sometimes that history is forever repeating itself. The Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix du Prince de Monaco nearly proved this once again on Saturday evening at the Port Hercules in Monaco. On the podium, the same three riders as in 2021 but with one major difference: the winner. Last year’s runner-up, 48-year-old Austrian Max Kühner, took his revenge on Irish rider Darragh Kenny (n°19) who had beaten him by 18 hundredths of a second. This year, on his 10 year old Selle Français EIC Corioli des Isles, the rider ranked n°14 in the World tasted his first victory on the prestigious Longines Global Champions Tour. Winning by 34 hundredths of a second ahead of the Irish rider who was partnering Volnay du Boisdeville (a 13 year old Selle Français stallion). ‘’I’m really happy tonight”, rejoiced the winner. ‘‘Last year Darragh had beaten me and I wanted to take my revenge. In the jump-off I was lucky enough to be the second to go. I watched Darragh, I counted his strides between the obstacles and had to quickly make my plan and adapt it to my horse. The course was very technical both in terms of angles and distances. He’s not a very fast horse so I had to gain time in the turns and it worked. The arena is unusual because it is very small but he’s been fantastic right from the beginning of the competition.’’ This victory also gives him the precious “golden ticket” to the super final in Prague in November. ‘‘In sport it is not enough to hope for things, you have to fight to achieve them,” he explained when asked if he was hoping for this qualification. ‘‘This final in Prague is one of the goals for which we’ve been fighting and I’m obviously delighted to have won my ticket to this rendezvous’’.
