Simon Delestre Jumps to World No. 2 on Longines FEI Rankings

After a fantastic December of top results, France’s Simon Delestre has jumped two positions up the Longines FEI World Rankings to take over the position of World No. 2 rider.

Delestre overtakes Kent Farrington of the United States, who despite winning the IJRC Top Ten Final at CHI Geneve on December 10th, falls two positions to World No. 4, and French rider Peneleope Leprevost, who went from No. 3 to No. 6.

Now ranked the leading lady rider in both the United States and the world, Beezie Madden has moved up to World No. 4 (and USEF ranked No. 2).

That makes the news of the December rankings not about who is on top, since it’s no surprise the long-running Scott Brash still holds that World No. 1 position, but about Brash’s continuously slimming lead as riders such as Delestre close in on him. With 2803 points to Brash’s 2950, it’s the closest a rider has come to catching that No. 1 position in quite some time.

However, January will see the global calendar of CSI rated events pick back up to full speed, with the Winter Equestrian Festival getting underway in Wellington, Florida, where many top international riders are based. Combine that with a continued calendar of top-rated World Cup Qualifier grand prix competition in Europe, and it’s a sure bet that top-ranked riders on both sides of the Atlantic will produce results that could shake things up in a very big way come February.

Longines FEI Ranked World Top 50, as of 12/31/2015