Scott Brash knocked off world number one spot

Scott Brash has been knocked off the world number one spot for the first time in 11 months.

Rider’s dream

France’s Simon Delestre is now the lead rider in the Longines World Jumping rankings.

The 34-year-old has a 23-point lead over Scott. USA’s Kent Farrington and three-time Olympian McClain Ward are in third and fourth place, respectively.

“It’s the dream of every rider to be world number one once in your life”, said Simon. “QlassicBois Margot,ChesallZimequestandHermèsRyan have almost equally helped me get 98 percent of my points.

“All three horses deserve the credit in the same way. Without one of these three, I couldn’t get this result. It was so tight that every performance had its importance. This world number one rank overall reward my horses’ consistency.”

Medal winner

In addition to taking the top spot in the world rankings, Simon finished second in the FEI World Cup Jumping Western European League and will be competing in the final in Gothenburg, Sweden on 23-28 March.

Previous successes included individual bronze at the 2015 European Jumping Championships in Aachen and team silver at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2014.