Vienna, Austria—Sept. 20  

A roller coaster class filled with thrills and spill concluded with German rider Marcus Ehning at the front of the victory gallop of the Vienna Longines Global Champions Tour aboard the veteran 17-year-old Plot Blue.

Ehning and Plot Blue were the only pair to turn in three clear rounds over courses that tested the riders. “I had the most work in the last round,” Ehning said. “I think he was a bit tired in the jump-off, but he had his experience to help him. It was not my best round, but I won. You could see in the jump-off all horses had one down because it was a hard jump-off course.”

Second place went to 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games team silver medalist Simon Delestre of France with Qlassic Bois Margot and third to Portugal’s Luciana Diniz with Winningmood.

With just one show in the series left—the Doha GCT in Qatar on Nov. 13-15—Longines GCT series Leader Ludger Beerbaum of Germany maintained his series lead by finishing fifth aboard Chiara, one place ahead of his close ranking rival Rolf-Göran Bengtsson of Sweden. “In the first round I had a stupid fences down which was my fault, I rode bad,” said Beerbaum.

“I was second to go in the second round and really thought I have to get this right. I spoke to Marcus Ehning and he said to not think too much just go fast and clear. To rise 12 places between Round 1 and 2 was a surprise, so looking back, that was positive. I needed to do better here to be in a safer position. If Scott [Brash] is in the first four in Doha and I am not there then he wins. So it’s open and we will see what comes.”

Despite picking up 8 faults in the second round, reigning Longines GCT champion Scott Brash has jumped up from sixth to third, making the race for the overall 2014 title between these three riders. 

A Testing First Round

The Vienna GCT saw one of the toughest Grand Prix courses of the season set this evening by Frank Rotheberger in front of packed stands and a bustling VIP area. The first round course was described as “not nice” by one star rider. The placement of the fences was awkward, the distances were demanding and the lines were jagged. The time was also tight, meaning riders had to push when they might prefer to hold and cut corners where they would rather use the precious space available.

The biggest test was the final line of the Longines combination on five long strides to a flimsy upright, similar to the line that sorted out the best from the rest.

Championship leader Beerbaum picked up 4 faults in the first round with his World Championship ride Chiara, putting him out of podium contention but high enough to make it through to the second round with the top 18. Bengtsson jumped clear with his inexperienced mare Unita ASK putting him in a great position to challenge for the overall lead. But world No. 1 and defending GCT champion Brash with Hello Sanctos also made it around the course clean.

A Spooky Second Round

There would be some stiff competition in the second round, however, as the championship contenders were joined by 11 other clears from the 46 starters, including Daniel Deusser (GER) with Cornet d’Amour, Cassio Rivetti (UKR) with Sea Coast Forlap, Alberto Michán Halbinger with Carusso LS La Silla, Pénélope Leprevost (FRA) with Vagabond de la Pomme and winner of two classes earlier in the week, Denis Lynch (IRE) with All Star 5. Four riders went through on 4 faults, including Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS) with Old Chap Tame and Sheikh al bin Khalid Al Thani (QAT) with Eurocommerce California.

The second round brought a few surprises as the course once again presented very difficult fences—halfway through the course a brightly colored orange double caught the eye of a few horses who didn’t jump the fence well, including Hello Sanctos who picked up faults here.

As with the first round, the course asked a lot of the horses and riders, and the more experienced combinations fared much better than those with less mileage—only eventual winners Marcus Ehning and Plot Blue made every round appear deceptively straightforward. 

A Fault-Filled Jump-Off

Four made it through to the final jump-off with double-clear scores—Diniz, Ehning, Delestre and Maikel van der Vleuten of the Netherlands with VDL Groep Sapphire B. The course took the riders on a long route around the arena, with obstacles coming in quick succession and off tight turns.

First to go was Delestre, who tried to set a strong time but lowered the final fence. Diniz also set off with a win in her sights, but a tight turn to the Longines double across the middle cost her the first part. Van der Vleuten was next to go and though his horse rattled a few fences on his way around it looked as though he would complete the first clear, but he too lowered the final fence.

With no clears on the board, Marcus Ehning had only to jump clear to win. 

The hotly contested final round of the 2014 championship will be hosted by Doha on Nov. 13-15. Now a three-horse race between Brash, Beerbaum and Bengtsson, it will come down to this final result before the series title-holder is officially crowned. Beerbaum is fighting hard for this victory and has said he will be keeping a close eye on rivals. Brash has also spoken about how important it is for him to retain his title and Bengtsson would love to go one better than his runner-up place in 2012 behind Tops-Alexander.

See full results from the Longines GCT Grand Prix of Vienna.