Converting their pole position to a win, Doha Falcons of Julien Anquetin, Jerome Guery and Michael Pender stormed to victory in the Global Champions League (GCL) of Paris.
The Paris leg of the GCL saw fierce competition and spellbinding performances, but it Doha Falcons that led from start to finish with Jerome’s horses Careca LS Elite and Great Britain V, Julien onboard Z Ice Cube Z and big gun Pender’s HHS Calais being pulled in for round two.
Championship leaders Stockholm Hearts powered by H&M We Love Horses duo of Nicola and Olivier took home second place on board Katanga v/h Dingeshof and H&M Legend of Love in round 2.
But hot on their heels Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames once again stood on the podium in third with Sophie Hinners on Special Life and Katrin Eckermann delivering a double clear with Cala Mandia NRW. In the team’s first win since GCL Samorin in 2021, the Doha Falcons took their well-earned spot at the top of the podium.
Speaking with GCTV, Mikey Pender said: “There really are amazing crowds here in Paris, it was brilliant. The team has been a bit unlucky all year, but we have a good team and have been going well in general...just knocking on the door. We have a brilliant team bond, all the shows we have such brilliant riders, and I think that helps a lot - hopefully we can keep it going.”
Tactics were certainly in play heading in to round two, with Doha Falcons seen discussing the approach for round two amongst themselves, as well as enlisting the help of the team manager. With the right decision clearly made, Guery spoke of how round
two was a lot bigger put potentially less technical, whereas round one posed a lot of technical questions.
He said: “We saw with round one how it was a lot more delicate, particularly with the plank which is the fence I had down, other than that we went pretty well in round 1 with Julien having a clear round.”
Jumping two horses each across round one and round two, Nicola and Olivier Philippaerts secured the third consecutive podium for the Stockholm Hearts powered by H&M We Love Horses, ultimately furthering their championship lead ahead of the home stage in Stockholm next week.
Nicola said: “All the horses jumped fantastic today, really we were very lucky to be on the podium, we survived another leg and we are looking forward to going into Stockholm as leaders next week.”
He went on to add: “We are only half way now, we have a lot of stages to come so it is very important that we plan carefully to get the strongest team everywhere that is possible.”
A look ahead to the ninth stage of the championship race, next week in Stockholm, Olivier shed some light on what the team have in store.
He said: “Next week we take Nicola, myself and Jessica Springsteen, but we have all planned to take the best horses we have and hopefully we keep the lead next week.”
Championship Standings after Stage 8
1st Place: Stockholm Hearts powered by H&M We Love Horses - 162 points
2nd Place: Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames - 157 points
3rd Place: Doha Falcons - 140 points
4th Place: Riesenbeck International powered by Kingsland - 136 points.
