Cannes, France—June 13 

French star Pénélope Leprevost thrilled the home crowd with a turbo-charged patriotic victory in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Cannes.

Leprevost’s army of young fans was ecstatic as she powered across the finish line in an eye-popping 36.86 seconds aboard , almost a full second ahead of Swedish champion Rolf-Göran Bengtsson on the extraordinary 16-year-old stallion Casall Ask.

“Ratina is a 10 year-old, freshly arrived at the top level,” said Leprevost. “It’s her fourth grand prix, and she went double clear last week in Saint Tropez. She was not supposed to come to the Longines Global Champions Tour of Cannes but we had to change our plans and I decided to bring her with me here. It would have been a shame not to take her! It’s the first time I tried to be really quick with Ratina. She is quite hot so I usually try to calm things down with her and ride her quietly, but this has broken all that careful work!”

Pénélope Leprevost on Ratina d’la Rousserie

U.S. rider Jessica Springsteen finished in eighth place aboard Lisona with a clean round in Round 1 and 4 faults in Round 2. 

It was a night of great stories under the multi-colored lights of the French Riviera arena. In the overall championship race Luciana Diniz has dramatically extended her lead in the ranking after finishing third on Fit For Fun.

Diniz and Fit For Fun were featured on the promotional posters all over Cannes. “I came here and I saw all these pictures in the whole city of me and I was like oh my gosh, is that pressure or is that good? So I decided to say this is great, I feel great, and I hope I can share this message with everyone to ride with fun and be happy,” Diniz said.

Luciana Diniz on the Longines Global Champions Tour of Cannes posters.

Diniz is now on 160 points, a full 50 points ahead of her nearest rival Pius Schwizer on 110 points and Scott Brash on 105 points. Schwizer, riding Armani The Gun, retired in the grand prix and Brash uncharacteristically finished on 8 faults in the first round on Hello M’Lady. Bengtsson has jumped up the ranking from 10th to fourth place and is on 99 points putting him in serious contention for the championship.

The exhilarating first round began against a backdrop of all the glamor and expectation Cannes evokes. With packed grandstands full of visitors from around the world, the stage was set for the first man on the course, Jerome Hurel of France, and his bay stallion Ohm de Ponthual to step into the spotlight. Much to the delight and cheers of the local fans within the crowd, Jerome set the bar high by riding clear around the 1.60-meter course; a spectacular start to the grand prix. 

He was quickly followed by U.S. rider Jessica Springsteen and her mare Lisona, who turned in a beautiful round to take the second clear of the evening. However, despite the initially successful start, many riders were soon caught out by the technical up to height course, and the battle intensified.

Jessica Springsteen on Lisona, eighth in the Longines GCT Grand Prix of Cannes.

Springsteen and Hurel were joined by Ben Maher of Great Britain, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson of Sweden and ranking leader Diniz of Portugal with clean rounds. With silence so intense you could hear a pin drop, Kevin Staut of France took center stage with his bay mare Elky van het Indihof. As the grandstands held their breath, Staut rode a powerfully quick round to come home clear and in pole position. With Leprevost and Ratina d’la Rousserie also riding clear, there would be three French riders competing in second round of the first of their home grand prix this season.

The second round saw further intensity as the top 18 riders battled for a place in the jump-off. Despite their strong start the top three, Staut, Hurel and Emanuele Gaudiano of Italy were unable to do the double and the challenging but fair 1.60-meter course saw just six combinations achieve a clear round, four of whom would earn their position in the jump-off. 

It was standing room only as first to go Maikel van der Vleuten of the Netherlands and his bay mare VDL Groep Arera C, completed the round clear once more in 39.97 seconds. Next up was last year’s second place position, Diniz with her chestnut mare Fit For Fun 13. She raised the bar further by going clear a full 2 seconds faster and laid down the gauntlet for the final two combinations.

Bengtsson was third to go and was able to tighten the turns further still, with the 16-year-old Casall Ask shaving tenths of a second off Diniz’s time to take the top spot. “Going to the last fence I had to wait a little bit but still I’m super happy with my second place today here. Pénélope deserved to win today—it was a very good jump-off as everybody just got faster and faster,” Bengtsson said.

Finally, home favorite  Leprevost entered the ring to the cheer of the crowd, with her 10-year-old bay mare Ratina d’la Rousserie. On the edge of their seats, the crowd watched as she rode a phenomenal clear round and came home in 36.86 seconds, almost a full second quicker than her nearest rival. 

This is the second Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix Leprevost has won in her career, her first being in Vienna in 2012. She claimed the full 40 points from the sixth leg of the Tour, and moves up to twenty-sixth in the rankings. 

See full results of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Cannes and full standings of the GCT. 

Horses took over the waterfront for the Longines GCT of Cannes.

Luciana Diniz celebrated her commanding lead in the GCT standings with Fit For Fun.