Cannes 2009: Two Prestigious Circuits

If there is an equestrian event not to be missed this summer, it is without a doubt Jumping de Cannes. The French stage of the prestigious Global Champions Tour and the World Dressage
Masters, Jumping de Cannes is the only show in France to include the world’s 30 best riders along with the best dressage riders on the planet. But Cannes offers a little something extra:
the charm of the Croisette.

Less than 200 meters from that famous avenue, the Hespérides stadium offers a setting like nowhere else. The competition’s horses are housed on the port. It’s quite a spectacle to see these
four-legged beauties- Olympic champions, World Cup and Grand Prix winners- walking among the yachts to the competition arena.

Last year it was the world’s best horse that won in Cannes. A small, energetic gelding named Shutterfly who had just won the World Cup qualifier in Göteborg and finished the 2008 season with more than €660,000 in earnings, a record in the discipline. His other half is female, and she too is the best in the world. Arriving in Cannes last year as world #1 (ahead of all the men-jumping is a mixed sport) she has since held her top ranking and is expected to arrive in Cannes this year as #1. Her name is Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum a German phenomenon hailing from California.

The Global Champions Tour, presented by CN and Rolex, is a prestigious circuit with stages around the world from Qatar to Brazil, including seven beautiful stops in Europe. Each stage is a Grand Prix with prize money of €285,000 (€95,000 for the winner) and qualifying points for this year’s final in Doha, Qatar (11 15 November). Only the world’s top 30 riders may participate in the tour.

In Dressage also, with the World Dressage Masters…

Cannes has the five star label, which is the most elite classification in jumping. This distinction is shared by the other discipline that will present at Hespérides- the beautiful Olympic discipline of dressage that was triumph in Cannes last year. The Dressage World Masters, presented by Exquis, is also an elite world circuit starting in Palm Beach, FL and finishing in England at Hickstead passing through the Croisette. Spectators in Cannes will be able to see again Dutch Olympic Champion Anky
van Grunsven who won the Grand Prix in Freestyle Music in 2008. The return of dressage of the highest level in France was appreciated by an audience of 3,000, both novice and professional, all passionate about this beautiful discipline. It had been a good dozen years since the French public had had the pleasure of viewing the top champions of the sport.

All the stars of the equestrian world will no doubt be present in Cannes from June 11-13…but other
stars will make appearances as well. To be continued…