Scott Brash defended his Longines Global Champions Tour title in Doha, Qatar on Saturday, claiming the series for the second year running.
Close call
It looked like Scott had blown his chances after he picked up a single time fault in the first round of the final Grand Prix, which was shown live on H&C.
Hello Sanctos went on to jump another clear in the second round, but it wasn’t enough to secure a place in the jump-off.
They finished the class in fourth place, which left Scott with a final score of 243 points.
Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Casall Ask won the Grand Prix, which put him on exactly the same amount of overall series points as Scott.
However, world number one Brash was declared the winner on aggregate, having claimed three legs in the series, while Rolf-Goran won just two.
‘Slapped myself’
“I nearly slapped myself today after getting a time fault in the first round,” said Scott. “Sanctos has been incredible all year. I just have to pinch myself and enjoy it while have him, those sort of horses don’t come along too often.”
Ludger Beerbaum, who was the championship leader going into the final leg, failed to make it through to the second round after picking up 16 faults. The German rider had to switch horses last minute, when his top ride Chiara had a mild bout of colic. He competed the less experienced stallion Zinedine instead.
“I have to be very honest, I don’t like to mess about, I am disappointed not to win,” he said. “On the other hand, I have to accept these two guys were world class.”
Fantastic horse
Rolf-Goran produced only one of only two treble clears, the other came from Portugal’s Luciana Diniz riding Fit For Fun. She was slower against the clock, however, to take second place, while Yann Candele (CAN) was third with Showgirl.
“I did everything I could today.” said Rolf-Goran. “My horse was fanstatic, but Scott jumped clear again as he has many times before, ending up on the same amount of points as me. It was really close.”
Scott won £235,000 for his championship title plus £35,000 for his fourth place, while Rolf-Goran returns to Sweden £111,000 the richer, for his Grand Prix win.