Longines Global Champions Tour - The Ultimate Individual Challenge: EXPLAINED

As the 2023 season of the Longines Global Champions Tour gets underway, the ultimate individual championship race heats up. With 16-stops on the 2023 tour, horses and riders will be challenged by technical courses, new arenas, unique backdrops and fierce competition. 

Top talent, both equine and human, return to the Longines Global Champions Tour in 2023 in pursuit of individual glory. Opening in Doha, the tour spans the continents of Asia, Europe, The Americas and Middle East, delivering unbeatable venues for the best in show jumping. 

With Doha as the launch pad, the tour took to Miami Beach for the second leg. Swiftly followed by Mexico City, the tour was seen hitting a new gear heading into the heart of Europe to Madrid. Locations such as Monaco, Paris, Canne Stockholm, London, Risenbeck and Tops International Arena in Valkenswaard, are to follow for the exciting season ahead.

The undercurrent of all events is the race to the Final. Hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city, for the second year, points earned by riders on each stop on the tour contribute to the result of the overall championship finale. 

Won by Ben Maher in 2022, in what was labelled the Trifecta of Championships, Maher wrote himself into the history books by taking out his third Longines Global Champions Tour Champion of Champions title.

In a secondary race for glory, riders, owners and trainers alike will be looking to get their hands on a Golden Ticket, a qualification for the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix at the GC Prague Playoffs in November. Only 15 tickets up for grabs in 2023, with each winner earning one through a win in a Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, if riders claim top podium position in more than one LGCT Grand Prix, the golden ticket is then handed down to the second placed rider. 

As one of the highlights of each event on the Longines Global Champions Tour, the LGCT Grand Prix attracts jumping’s top riders team up with their best horses for individual honours in a series of spectacular competitions on the tour.

All eyes are firmly focused on the 16-leg tour this year, with the question on everyone’s lips… who will reach pole position on the leaderboard and earn the coveted title of Champion of Champions in 2023?

Longines Global Champions Tour: 6 QUICK FACTS

• The height of LGCT Grand Prix jumps will be set at 1.60m 
• Riders may choose to ride the horse of theirs best suited to the event, rather than having to stick to one mount throughout the year
• 40 horse and rider combinations will qualify for each LGCT Grand Prix by competing in the 5* classes preceding championship day
• Throughout the year, points are allocated to each of the 40 riders according to their finishing place in each event's LGCT Grand Prix over the season. Each rider’s top eight scores count towards the overall championship ranking and a share of the bonus prize money
• Riders compete to win their share in over  €36 million over the course of the 2023 Longines Global Champions Tour
• Each LGCT Grand Prix winner, or the next highest ranked athlete, secures a Golden Ticket and qualifies for the Super Grand Prix at the final showdown of the year, the GC Prague Playoffs.