Zanotelli, Nygaard, and Philippaerts Secure the Basel Cosmopolitans' First Global Champions League Victory

There was no getting past the Basel Cosmopolitans at the Global Champions League stop in Riesenbeck! The hero of the day for Swiss rider Thomas Straumann’s team was Marlon Zanotelli. In the first round over 1.60 meters, the Brazilian rode Jana Wargers’ Dorette—who, by the way, gave birth to her son Louis on July 7; congratulations!—and rode a confident, clear round. He repeated the feat in the second round as well, though this time he rode the KWPN gelding Ilex (by Batic VDL), McLain Ward’s silver medalist from the Paris Olympics, who has been competing under Zanotelli for the past year.

Nicola Philippaerts’ 10-year-old Andiamo Semilly son, Gadget Mouche, still has a ways to go before he can fill the shoes of Philippaerts’ top horse, Katanga van het Dingeshof; here, he knocked down two poles in the first round. In the second round, Denmark’s Zascha Nygaard took over the reins of Patrick Stühlmeyer’s 2024 German Champion, Drako de Maugre. Her clear round secured the first victory for the Basel Cosmopolitans—though it was actually the time that decided the outcome. But since Zanotelli and Nygaard posted the second- and third-fastest rounds of all competitors in the second round, the victory was still a clear one.

Second and third place

Second place went to last year’s champions, the Istanbul Warriors, for whom Abdel Said (BEL) rode the 2025 Super Grand Prix winner, Bonne Amie (0) and Max (4), as well as former Riesenbecker rider Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) on Qasirah van de Reistenhoek (0/4).

Third place went to the Doha Falcons. The team was led by Sanne Thijssen (NED) on Joviality, a daughter of Warrant whom she had taken over from her brother Mans just a few weeks earlier, and who, with two clear rounds, did justice to Thijssen’s now-retired star, Con Quality. Oliver Lazarus had a knockdown in the first round with Conbalthago PS. Caroline Rehoff Pedersen and Polonis L finished the second round with ten faults.

The fact that the “Falken” managed to finish in third place despite 14 errors speaks to the difficulty of the test.

Voices

“We’re incredibly happy,” said Marlon Modolo Zanotelli. “To be honest, the victory came as a bit of a surprise. But we knew we had to put pressure on the other teams, and today everything just fell into place.”

Teammate Nicola Philippaerts added, “We have great team spirit, outstanding riders, and strong pairs. I think this success is well-deserved, and it’s wonderful to finally be able to celebrate our first stage victory.”

The Fall of the Favorites

Things didn’t go quite as well today for the teams with German riders, especially the hosts. While Christian Kukuk and Checker had a clear round, Ciaran Nallon and Casalla Blue PS picked up eight penalty points in the first round. As a result, they didn’t make it into the top ten, which were allowed to compete again in the second jumping round. Two facts may have provided some consolation: First, they still lead the overall standings, and second, other top teams fared similarly.

Among the teams with German riders, the Cannes Stars missed out on the final after Katrin Eckermann and Dialou Blue PS had eight faults, while Sophie Hinners and Combella rode clear.

On the Shanghai Swans team, Christian Ahlmann knocked down one rail on “Untouched LB,” and Max Kühner knocked down two on “Cooley Jump the Q.”

Valkenswaard United competed with Marcus Ehning and Coolio, as well as Gilles Thomas on Ermitage Kalone. The latter had a clear round, while for the former, the two knockdowns were hopefully just a dress rehearsal for the World Championships.

Last but not least, Kendra Claricia Brinkop also competed for the Mexico Amigos today in the “In Time” class, riding Merryweather vt Leeuwerikenhof alongside Koen Vereecke. Both riders had one fault each in this class.

You can find all the results here.