Release date: 10/08/2019

Georgina Bloomberg and Daniel Bluman of New York Empire showcased enormous grace under pressure with a spectacular victory at GCL Valkenswaard today. With their horses Quibelle and Ladriano Z, the teammates delivered a flawless performance to storm to the win a full four seconds faster than their closest rivals and denying the Cannes Stars of supremacy today. 
In a dramatic tightening at the top, St Tropez Pirates have jumped up to take the joint lead with London Knights - the two teams on the exact same score of 272 points, but the Knights just ahead in the ranking due to their higher number of wins this season. The Shanghai Swans are in third with a tally of 260 points, and just two points behind sit the Miami Celtics who have dropped from second to fourth, the team now with 258 points. 
 
But glory went today to the New York Empire team, with the team taking their first win of the season. A beaming Georgina said: “This is a team I really believe in, and I really wanted to pull through, not just for my horse but for my amazing teammates. In my eyes we’ve had a great season, but have had a little bit of bad luck which has affected the results but I really wanted to pull through because my team have put in such an amazing effort all season and these guys deserve to be on the podium.” 
Her teammate Daniel Bluman agreed: “Georgina delivered a beautiful round and I knew what time I had to do to be better than the current leaders. I felt the nerves, but it’s good to feel those nerves. It’s a fantastic feeling and I’m really happy that I’m able to share this with Georgina. She puts in a lot of hard effort for this and for us, and we’ve been really wanting it so it’s great.” 
Georgina finished by highlighting the team’s home event which comes in New York in September: “It’s a nice place to be on the podium - it’s exciting to be heading to New York in this way."
Under windswept blue skies Uliano Vezzani designed a challenging, high octane track, with plenty for the riders to think about. The most troublesome lines were the doubles set in different corners of the arena, including the penultimate line which was set against the big grandstand. There was a festival atmosphere in Valkenswaard at Tops International Arena as spectators enjoyed the village, with a dedicated kids play area and were able to watch top sport from the comfort of the covered grandstand and SkyBoxes. 

Photo: LGCT/Stefano Grasso