Top ranked female rider Edwina Tops-Alexander will return to Hong Kong for the 2014 Longines Hong Kong Masters with a new team of horses.
Tops-Alexander, who finished 3rd in last year’s Gucci Gold Cup aboard Guccio at last year’s Longines Hong Kong Masters, will bring Old Chap Tame and a new mare to her stable Linte Tequila to the show at the end of this month.“Old Chap Tame has recently been jumping very well and Linte Tequila has placed in some classes,” Tops-Alexander said.
Tops-Alexander said whilst she has not had as strong a lead-up as she did to the event last year, she is excited by the challenge of introducing these horses to a top level competition. “Last year I had more experienced horses and now I have been producing new and young horses I am looking forward to getting them going."
The Australian-born Monaco based rider said she enjoyed competing at the inaugural Longines Hong Kong Masters last year. “I liked it very much because the public really appreciated our sport and the classes were all very exciting.”
“Considering the public in Hong Kong are not so educated about our sport they became very involved. At this level it is very fast and exciting so I am not surprised that they enjoyed it,” she said.
She compared the competition ring at AsiaWorld Expo to that of the Gucci Paris Masters. “It is very similar to the Gucci Masters. The ring is about the same size but we are just in another country.”
Tops-Alexander, who has twice been crowned the Global Champions Tour winner in 2011 and 2012 and also competed at the Beijing and London Olympics, will be one of the star attractions at the Longines Hong Kong Masters that begin on February 21.