Great Britain’s Ben Maher may have won the Grand Prix at the Longines Global Champions Tour New York over the weekend, but the real star of the show turned out to be, well, the show itself.
Ben Maher on Explosion W, who jumps like his name. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
It was a jaw-dropper to see how the arena, grandstands, stabling, warm-up area and vendor village were laid out against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.
An overview of the LGCT operation on Governors Island. (Photo©2019 by Lawrence J.. Nagy)
The setting was Governor’s Island, an 800-yard ferry ride from lower Manhattan. The island had been an outpost for the British military before the Revolutionary War and for the U.S. military after that. It eventually became a Coast Guard installation until 1996. It finally opened to the public in 2005 and is a popular respite from city life for those who come over. The only way to get there is by ferry, which complicated it as a site for a show, but the LGCT crew was up to the challenge.
Everything, including heavy equipment, tons of footing and the horses, arrived by ferry (or barges). The horses were, of course, in vans. We wouldn’t have wanted to see them walking around on deck…
LGCT is run by Jan Tops, a Dutch entrepreneur who has presented shows all over the world, from Shanghai to Paris. LGCT New York is his second show in the U.S., and its layout is reminiscent of his spring Miami Beach operation, which is located on the sand next to the ocean.
“It is important for us to be in New York,” said Jan.
“America is an important horse nation and we have a strong footprint in the States. We found a good place for the horses and riders,” he said of Governors Island, indicating the competition is likely to return to the site next year.
In addition to Ben, the big names and their horses were flown over from Europe, including Germany’s Marcus Ehning, second to Ben in the featured grand prix,, where he rode Cornado NRW.
Marcus Ehning of Germany and Cornado NRW were second in the featured grand prix, where no Americans made the seven-horse jump-off. (Photo©2019 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
European Show Jumping Champion Martin Fuchs of Switzerland was Ben’s teammate on the London Knights. They won the final for the LGCT League. Ben rates his mount, Explosion W, and Marcus’ horse, Clooney as the two best jumpers in the world.
London Knights teammates Martin Fuchs and Ben Maher with LGCT President Jan Tops. (Photo©2019 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The Leagues involve a hodgepodge of mixed nationalities that seemed to have little to do with their names. The Cannes Stars, for instance, were represented in the team final by Margie Goldstein Engle of the U.S. and Abdel Said of Egypt. Team members wore collarless riding jackets in their team colors with appropriate logos. The Berlin Eagles, for instance, had—what else?—an eagle as their insignia.
Georgina Bloomberg has been very involved with LGCT. Her team in the LGCT League is the New York Empire and since her father, Michael Bloomberg, is the former mayor of New York City, there was speculation that she had an instrumental role in bringing the show to Gotham.
Georgina Bloomberg and Quibelle. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
When I asked her about that, she replied, “I wish I could take credit, but unfortunately, no. Obviously, we were excited when they decided they wanted to have a horse show in New York. I think people were a little bit concerned with the ferry ride and how that would work, but it’s definitely worth the trip. You can’t beat the location, you can’t beat the view.“
As she observed, “The ferry has been running very smoothly and it really hasn’t been any different than jumping in a taxi or having to drive. We have horse shows where you have to travel further distances to get to the horse show from the hotel and you don’t have views that compare to this when you get there.”
Even though her father is no longer mayor, I thought perhaps she might have been able to exert influence as necessary. Apparently not.
“There’s very little, obviously, we can do in the city, we don’t have the pull that we used to,” she offered with a smile.
“Jan is so talented at forming those connections with the different cities, he hasn’t really needed my help. Little touches I can add, but as far as the logistics and the actual organizing, that was all the Global Champions team.”
The Statue of Liberty had a good view of the action and all the riders, including Kent Farrington on Creedance, winner of the show’s final 150,000 Euro competition. (Photo©2019 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
For the team final and the 300,000 Euro Grand Prix on Saturday, the stands were filled with fascinated spectators, many of whom had just been visiting Governors Island when they learned about the competition. Others had made the show their destination, and the fact that there was no admission charge undoubtedly helped boost attendance.
Reagan Nunnally, a resident of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, said she had heard about the show from friends who had been going to LGCT shows elsewhere in the world.
“They let us know it was going to be in New York, so we came on out,” said Reagan, who has been a fan of Governors Island.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked. “Such a special enclave that few people know about.”
After the success of LGCT New York, that may no longer be the case.
