For the third leg of the Global Champions League, the action moved to Shanghai this week, where team manager Ludger Beerbaum sent Emanuele Camilli and Philipp Weishaupt into competition.
As the last of the 17 teams, Team Riesenbeck International entered the course. Up to that point, only the Monaco Aces, with Sweden’s Peder Fredricson and Brazil’s Yuri Mansur, had remained clear. Emanuele Camilli and the 14-year-old mare Chacco’s Girlstar were first to go for Team Riesenbeck International. However, two rails fell, leaving the team with eight penalties by the time Philipp Weishaupt and the 12-year-old gelding Mastermind RL crossed the start line. Another fault would have made a top-10 finish almost impossible, but the Riesenbeck pair kept their nerve and delivered a clear round. This secured the team eighth place going into the second and decisive round. There, both riders produced clear rounds, temporarily putting the team in the lead.
Many of the following teams incurred faults on the challenging course. Although the Basel Cosmopolitans also had no rails down in round two and carried eight penalties from the first round, they ranked behind the Riesenbeck team due to a slower time. The Monaco Aces were last to go; Peder Fredricson once again rode a clear round, while Yuri Mansur picked up just one time fault. This secured victory in Shanghai for the Monaco Aces, while Team Riesenbeck International fought their way into second place. Third place went to the Basel Cosmopolitans.
Ludger Beerbaum summed up the team’s performance: “Many thanks to the entire team! From the first to the last round, it was a truly exciting competition. Emanuele and Philipp, and of course their two horses, did a fantastic job. In the end, it paid off that we relied on consistency and, as the only team, did not change horses before the second round.”