The Longines China Tour of Beijing Great Wall came to an end in grand fashion yesterday, crowning Vincent Vermeulen (NED) and Ceylon as the winners of CNY $820,000 Longines Grand Prix CSI 3*.

The Beijing Great Wall

The event was the first leg of the Longines China Tour, being held this time before a historic site: the Great Wall in Beijing.

The Dutchman and the 11-year-old bay Dutch Warmblood gelding (Van Gogh x Legaat) blew away past the rest of the competition in the jump-off, not only being clear but also almost two seconds faster, going through the timers in 44.19 seconds.

Besides a big part of the purse, Vermeulen received an elegant timepiece from Juan-Carlos Capelli, Longines Vice president and Head of International Marketing.

Kenneth Cheng (HKG) & Chaccopia

Kenneth Cheng (HKG) and Chaccopia were the closest ones, earning silver honors in 46.16 seconds.

Jirigala Erdeng (CHN) & Brikibo vd Bosbeek

Jirigala Erdeng (CHN) and Brikibo vd Bosbeek gave the home crowd something to cheer about, finishing third after registering no penalties in 46.30 seconds during the tiebreaker.

From left to right: Kenneth Cheng (HKG), Vincent Vermeulen (NED) and Jirigala Erdeng (CHN) on the podium joined by Dennis Li, Vice President of Longines China , Juan Carlos Capelli, Vice President and Head of International Marketing of Longines, and Foreign Judge Kazuya Hirayama.