They were the title defenders – but would the German show-jumpers be able to repeat their victory in the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup at the CHIO Aachen? After the results of the Nations Cups at the start of the year there were justified doubts. But three aspiring young German show jumping talents and an old hand proved all of the gloomy predictions wrong.
Laura Klaphake, Simone Blum, Maurice Tebbel and Marcus Ehning let the midsummer night’s dream come true at the Soers. With just four faults after both rounds, they rode to victory ahead of the team from Ireland (6 faults) and the Netherlands (9). And how they won! Laura Klaphake had a double clear round with her mare, Catch Me If You Can, which was moreover a role model for stylish jumping. It was the Aachen premiere in the Nations Cup for both her and Simone Blum with Alice. The latter picked up four faults in the first round, but jumped clear in the second round.

Maurice Tebbel made his debut premiere in the Aachen Nations Cup with Chacco’s Son in 2017 – and thus celebrated his second triumph at the Soers after a super clear round number one and four faults in the second round, which he explained came about because his otherwise extremely careful stallion slipped slightly while taking off and didn’t have enough grip to push himself away from the ground strongly enough.

Marcus Ehning joked in the Press Conference that he is so old that he couldn’t even remember how many times he has ridden for Germany in Aachen. But one thing is for sure, the two previous times the victory in the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup went to Germany. And today his was the ride that decided the victory.

The ride to victory

As the most experienced rider, Ehning played a key role for the team with his French chestnut, Pret a Tout. That is why the national coach, Otto Becker, let him ride last, since the final rider often decides between victory and defeat. That was indeed the case today. When Ehning entered the ring, Germany was lying in first place with a lead of one point. If he stayed clear, the team’s victory was safe. On the Riders’ Stand Simone Blum and Laura Klaphake clutched each other closely and trembled at every obstacle. In the first round Ehning and his Hiram Chambertin son picked up four faults. Would he jump clear this time? 40,000 spectators were as quiet as mice. He jumped one obstacle after the other clear. But a Nations Cup is terribly long! After Ehning had left the triple combination behind him and steered towards the final obstacle, the first voices could be heard. “Shush!” came from all sides. Concentration! After all the pole could even fall at the last fence! But Pret a Tout knows his job. He also mastered the last jump with no problems at all. A cry went out all over the Soers. Deafening applause, German flags, great joy! Mission accomplished!

Cool youngsters

As he walked over to the warm-up area, the national coach Otto Becker blurted out: “Super troop!!! How they stick together, how they fight – simply fantastic! And how the youngsters performed here – immensely cool!” The German jumping sport has reached a new phase. Experienced experts are not at hand right now, but instead we can rely on the strength of the youth. The season got off to a “halting start”, Otto Becker admitted. Then we came second at the CHIO in Rotterdam, where Laura Klaphake – who has been a member of the European Young Riders Academy initiated by Rolex for three years and thus also trains regularly with Franke Sloothaak – and Catch Me If You Can delivered the best team performance with two double clears. That was anything but a one-day wonder today. Does she have a recipe for success? “I give my horse a kiss before entering the ring!” Who knows whether that’s what does the trick or whether the mare is simply “in the best form of her life”(Laura Klaphake), but one thing is certain: That is what winners look like! Klaphake’s conclusion after her first Nations Cup in Aachen: “A dream has come true, First of all, because I was actually able to ride in the team, secondly because we won.”

Simone Blum and Alice, who only had one show to prepare for Aachen, because they had to have a time out for a few weeks in the spring, also made an outstanding impression. A totally overwhelmed Simone Blum commented: “I simply can’t believe it. It was a fantastic day, a fantastic team and I am proud of us all.” And Marcus Ehning, who has competed so often here at the Soers that he can no longer remember how many times, emphasised: “Once you have won here once, you want to win every year! Indeed, we have succeeded in doing so for the last three years. So we are simply happy! And then taking a sideward glance over to his team colleagues, the Olympic gold medallist praised the team: “The young riders performed superbly.”

This victory was dedicated to Hans Günter Winkler who passed away earlier this month. All four riders wore a black armband in remembrance of the show jumping legend. “HGW” would no doubt have enjoyed this evening at the Soers.

The first national anthem that was played at the CHIO Aachen today, was the German anthem. It was played for Philipp Weishaupt, who won the VBR Prize with a big lead, a two-phase jumping competition over 1.55 metre obstacles.

“That course was really high today,” Philipp Weishaupt summed up after the prize-giving ceremony for the VBR Prize. No problem for his 12-year-old Holstein-bred Lesson Peak. The Lord Z son was extremely fast too: He beat the rest of the field by almost two seconds. Weishaupt crossed the finish line in 35.08 seconds. Second place went to the Belgian rider, Yves Vanderhasselt with Hetman Of Colors, who also jumped clear in a time of 36.97 seconds, followed by Laura Kraut (USA) with Zeremonie (0/38.99).

In a two-phase competition, the jump-off is basically a continuation of the first round in one course. If a pair remains clear over the first part of the course, he simply carries on jumping the rest of the obstacles. The second half of the course is then ridden against the clock. The course itself was “almost like a standard course,” commented Weishaupt. But long, consisting of 14 obstacles. That was very strenuous in the heat! That is the advantage if one has a horse that is a little more temperamental by nature – like Weishaupt’s Lesson Peak: “In his case it is a fine line between genius and insanity,” his rider explained. The two of them have only been a pair for a few weeks. Weishaupt took over the gelding from a Canadian pupil of his employer Ludger Beerbaum and has already celebrated victories with him, among others at the CHIO Rotterdam. “But winning at home is always something different,” the two-time Rolex Major winner added, “and here in Aachen is always very special, regardless of which competition it is!”

…and it was to win. Shane Sweetnam is Irish after all. And – according to him – the Irish love hunting competitions over ditches and banks like the Prize of the Sparkasse.
His plan came off. Shane Sweetnam was pretty confident today. The reason for his optimism has four legs and is called Cyklon: “He is 17 years old and has already won plenty of classes. He also came second in the Derby in Falsterbo. He has experience over natural fences and can be really fast.” That was evident today: The stallion and his rider galloped to victory in a time of 64.89 seconds.

Second place went to the British rider, Harry Charles, the 19-year-old recently crowned European Champion of the Young Riders and a member of the European Young Riders Academy sponsored by Rolex. He rode the KWPN stallion, Controe by Wender R and reached the finish line in 65.29 seconds. Hans-Dieter Dreher was delighted to take third place with the Selle Français gelding, Tiopepe des Champs for whom the clock stopped at 67.09 seconds.

In 2017 the US American rider, McLain Ward, discovered Clinta at the CHIO Aachen under Philip Rüping. He spent seven months negotiating with the previous owner, Paul Schockemöhle. Now he is riding the super mare here himself and together the pair secured the victory in the Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia is a jumping competition with two rounds. The best 25 pairs from round one qualify for round two against the clock, but have to take any possible faults from the first round with them. McLain Ward’s Oldenburg-bred mare Clinta had no faults when she entered the stadium at the Soers the second time round (as is the case for every Grand Prix that McLain Ward has ridden with her since early this spring). And she certainly made no mistakes against the clock, what’s more she was as quick as lightening: 46.95 seconds. That was no surprise for McLain Ward: “She jumps spectacularly. And so carefully that at first we weren’t even sure whether she would actually ever jump at top level. But she has proven that she is capable of everything!”

The eleven-year-old grey mare left the experienced 17-year-old Reveur de Hurtebise and Kevin Staut trailing behind. The two Olympic team gold medallists from Rio in 2016 crossed the finish line in 48.16 seconds, the second best time. Kevin Staut took the opportunity here in Aachen to put something straight: It is not true that Reveur de Hurtebise isn’t going to compete again after his rather unfortunate performance at the World Cup Finals in Paris. “Perhaps we worded it a little misleadingly. He is not going to compete at any more Championships which puts him under too much pressure.” That is why Staut is not placing his bets on the speedy chestnut for the Rolex Grand Prix on Sunday, but instead on his Nations Cup horse, Silver Deux de Virton – added at the same time however: “I would have a better chance with Reveur though.”

The Irish show-jumper Cameron Hanley finished third with the ten-year-old Tinka’s Boy daughter, Eis Isaura, after jumping clear in a time of 48.49 seconds. She too will be staying in her stable during the Rolex Grand Prix. Her rider stressed however that he definitely considers her to be a Grand Prix horse for the future.

Maurice Tebbel and the nine-year-old Rhineland-bred stallion, Don Diarado by Diarado, also made a fantastic impression in the jumping competition. Family Müter bought the horse especially for the repeated winner of the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup. It was a good decision, as today’s fourth place in the Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia underlined again (0/49.29). Last year the two of them won the U25 Jumping Trophy..