Gucci team (Edwina Tops-Alexander/Charlotte Casiraghi) finished in the lead, ahead of Sonoma Horse Park (Richard Spooner/Simonne Berg) and EADS (Jérôme Hurel/Nicolas Canteloup). The Style Prize was unanimously awarded to the EADS team.

Show Jumping News - Gucci Masters - The Style and Competition Challenge for AMADE

The Style and Competition Challenge for AMADE, the brainchild of Charlotte Casiraghi, once again proved a stunning success with the Parisian public this year.

The idea behind this charity challenge is simple. For the competition part, twelve teams consisting each of one CSI 5* rider and one amateur rider, and each with a different corporate sponsor, battle it out to complete the course in the fastest time. The teams can choose to jump jokers that enable them to improve their times or incur penalties if a bar should fall. For the style part, each team chooses a theme, illustrated with a costume and music. Then a prestigious jury is tasked with scoring the entrants and picking the most stylish team.

This year, the jury was composed of Virginie Coupérie-Eiffel, official ambassadress of the Gucci Masters, Marcel Rozier, Olympic champion in 1976 and former trainer of the French show jumping team, and Stéphane Bern, journalist and presenter for France Télévisions. A high-profile panel, and the judges clearly enjoyed themselves, with many of the teams showing plenty of humour and originality.

That was certainly true of the Gucci team, made up of Charlotte Casiraghi and Edwina Tops-Alexander. The two young women went for a disco theme complete with afros, spangled outfits and huge sunglasses for both them and their mounts. Quick and precise, they won the event hands down!

The Ery Management SA team was also popular. Ekaterina Rybolovleva and Kevin Staut chose the movie Moulin Rouge as their theme, and the spectators gave a warm ovation to the French champion, who sported a moustache and a big belly for the occasion.

Philippe Rozier, dressed as Yannick Noah, and Martina Hingis-Hutin, for the Haras de la Coudraie, took to the course wearing tennis gear, even taking a moment to play a brief rally before starting their run.

EADS sponsored Jérôme Hurel and Nicolas Canteloup, who re-enacted cowboy Lucky Luke versus the dastardly Daltons. The clapometer showed they were a hit with the spectators, as was the Equidia Life team represented by Roger Yves Bost and Benjamin Castaldi, dressed as Christmas Supermen. They drew the biggest laughs, especially when Benjamin/Superman had a gentle tumble when Quingly Mouche refused.

So in the end, the Gucci team (Edwina Tops-Alexander/Charlotte Casiraghi) finished in the lead, ahead of Sonoma Horse Park (Richard Spooner/Simonne Berg) and EADS (Jérôme Hurel/Nicolas Canteloup). The Style Prize was unanimously awarded to the EADS team. But most importantly, the competition raised a total of 120,000 euros for AMADE, whose president, H.R.H. Princess Caroline of Hanover, was there in person at the Gucci Masters on Saturday evening.

120,000 euros raised for AMADE        
Founded in 1963 at the behest of Princess Grace of Monaco, AMADE - the World Association of Children's Friends - was set up to promote and protect the rights of the world's most vulnerable children. Today, the charity is based in Monaco and its President is H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover. It is run by a team of permanent staff and volunteers and works through a network of eleven national branches based in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.

Through the Gucci Masters, the funds raised by the Style and Competition Challenge scheduled for Saturday December 3rd (7.40pm) will go to support four projects in the Philippines, a country estimated to have over 500,000 abandoned children and teenagers.

We spoke to Francis Kasasa, Secretary General of AMADE...

"The money raised by the Gucci Masters will enable us to continue with four major programmes in the Philippines, in collaboration with the Virlanie Foundation.  

We are working to ensure the long-term survival of permanent children's homes, of which there are currently twelve. Unlike orphanages, AMADE seeks to provide street children with a social and family environment. Tutors play the role of parents and support them in their education. 

We also provide support to young girls who are already mothers at 13 years of age. We teach them to take care of their children and offer them professional training to help them find work. Of course, we also obtain the treatments needed by both mother and child. 

Through the "Jade "centre which was opened three years ago, we strive to provide disabled children with permanent assistance. That is without doubt the most sensitive programme, because the children are suffering not just as a result of being abandoned, but also from their disability. We have put in place a large team that works day in, day out. 

Lastly, we will be able to continue to provide legal assistance. In the Philippines, children are often picked up in raids and others have committed minor offences, and in both cases they will find themselves locked up alongside delinquent adults and criminals. For this programme, AMADE is working with the local authorities to identify children who have been imprisoned and to help them when they go before the courts. In 2004, a visit by H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover helped us build a closer relationship with the local authorities, to try and find solutions to the problem of these imprisoned children."

Fondée en 1963 à l'initiative de la Princesse Grace de Monaco, cette ONG à but non lucratif a été créée pour promouvoir et protéger les droits des enfants les plus vulnérables dans le monde. Présidée aujourd'hui par S.A.R la Princesse de Hanovre, l'association, dont le siège est installé à Monaco, compte une équipe de permanents, quelques bénévoles et opère à travers un réseau de 11 antennes nationales basées en Europe, en Asie, en Amérique du Sud et en Afrique.

Les fonds récoltés à travers cette épreuve Style et Compétition for AMADE seront destinés à soutenir quatre projets aux Philippines ; pays qui compte, selon les estimations, plus de 500 000 enfants et adolescents abandonnés.

 Information on : www.guccimasters.com