Jumping

What an anniversary! Coinciding with the tenth birthday of the Rolex Grand Slam in Aachen, there was a German trio on the podium and the heroes of the hour are Marcus Ehning and Stargold.

Five pairs reached the jump-off, three from Germany: Philipp Weishaupt with the nine-year-old Zineday, then the winning pair from 2021, Daniel Deußer with Killer Queen, and Marcus Ehning with Stargold. The two further pairs were the Mexican rider, Eugenio Garza Perez with Contago and the Olympic gold medallist, Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) with Major Tom. They were the first two pairs to go in the jump-off, but both picked up four faults each. Then it was the turn of Weishaupt and Zineday – they were as fast as lightning: 43.36 seconds, but they too knocked a rail. But they were nevertheless still in the lead. Next to go: Deußer and Killer Queen, the winners of the Rolex Grand Prix in Spruce Meadows in 2022 and thus contenders to win a 250,000-Euro bonus. They delivered a super round, fluent, clear in a time of 45.73 seconds, the new leaders.

Marcus Ehning and Stargold entered the ring. The stadium fell silent. One could even hear Stargold’s rhythmic snorting from the top rows of the stand. The stallion didn’t waste a millisecond in the air and nor did Ehning on the ground. He didn’t quite find the right take-off at one fence, the whole crowd gasped, but the rail stayed up. And then they jumped the last obstacle clear, Ehning glanced swiftly to the clock: 45.12 seconds, 1st place. Marcus Ehning tore his helmet from his head, cheered, hugged his stallion’s neck, waved to the crowd, evidently not knowing what to do for pure joy. He had succeeded. For the third time, for the first time with Stargold. What a memorable moment!

He could hardly hold back the tears during the prize-giving ceremony. Stargold on the other hand stood relaxed on a long rein in front of the Rolex Grand Slam Trophy, laughed like a stallion, looked around full of confidence and seemed to be fully aware that he was the hero of the hour. A star that is worth his weight in gold. His rider says he is “probably a bit arrogant, but in a nice way”. And a “real pal”. Ehning’s conclusion: “Today, was our day. I had a good feeling all week. He likes the stadium, he was in super form two weeks ago. But to win the Grand Prix of Aachen is unbelievable!”

It is a good thing he hasn’t been competing the week after Aachen for years. “I decided that because one never knows what might happen. I have had so many good and bad experiences over the years here in Aachen.” But he does know what is going to happen this week: “We will celebrate a nice party!”

It was a very expensive sixth tenths of a second for Daniel Deußer. But he took coming second and missing out on the bonus in his stride: “I am very, very happy with the performance of my horse today. We had three really fantastic clear rounds. I thought the jump-off was good for my feeling. I tried to put a bit of pressure on Marcus. I have mixed feelings, of course I would like to be stand on the winning podium, but even if I had ridden a second faster, Marcus would probably have done the same.“

Philipp Weishaupt, who finished third, certainly hadn’t reckoned on coming under the top three with his just nine-year-old, Zineday. “No one else had such a young horse. So, sitting here on the podium next to these two guys with their experienced Championship horses is a great result. He said knocking the rail was his fault. “I took the oxer too direct, I could have chosen the line a bit better and then it would have took Daniel and Marcus a little bit more to beat us. But to come third here in Aachen with a 9-year-old horse is fantastic!”

And all of this at the anniversary edition of the Rolex Grand Slam in Aachen. CHIO Aachen Head of Sport, Birgit Rosenberg stated: “I think if you saw the competition today, it says it all about this series. Top sport, tradition, the best crowds, the best organisers in the world come together here. The series is fantastic for the sport. Thank you Rolex! The home crowd here in Aachen was superb, I am really proud of these people, they made this week very special.”

His business partner Richard Vogel was responsible for the ribbons in the big classes at the CHIO Aachen 2023. However, David Will in fact claimed his third victory in one of the classes of the supporting programme today, in the Prize of BEMER International AG..

In the 1.45-metre jumping competition against the clock, the Prize of BEMER International AG, David Will and his eleven-year-old OS gelding, Accoton PS, mastered the course in the fastest time of 60.94 seconds, followed by René Dittmer and the ten-year-old Holstein-bred mare, Corsica by Connor in second place with a time of 62.40 seconds. The French rider, Marc Dilasser, came third in the Allianz-Prize yesterday and he also won the white ribbon today with E2K Abricot Ennemelle, whom he already won the Prize of Handwerk  with on Wednesday. He crossed the finish line just eight hundredths of a second after Dittmer.

The Belgian Nations’ Cup riders dominated the second competition of the NetAachen-Prize, the Young Riders jumping competition with a jump-off.

The Young Riders opened the final day at the CHIO Aachen 2023 with the NetAachen-Prize. The first national anthem that rang out today, was the Belgian anthem, namely for Thibault Philippaerts and his just eight-year-old, Kannan son, Pompidou van het Kuilenhof. The 21-year-old rider jumped clear in 38.11 seconds, pushing his fellow countryman Thibeau Spits back into second place. The latter had saddled the chic Zangersheide-bred stallion, Calvino II de Nyze Z by Calvaro Z and the pair crossed the finish line in 40.76 seconds. The reigning European Champion of the Juniors from Finland, Jone Illi, came third. However, he didn’t compete with his European Championship horse, Eolita L, but instead with the also Finnish-bred gelding, Celtas Quillian by Uriko. The just 15-year-old (!) took 41.97 to master his first jump-off at the Aachener Soers.

Thibault is the second youngest of the four Philippaerts brothers. He reported that he had ridden in the Deutsche Bank Stadium once during the COVID pandemic, but that Friday and today was the first time he’d competed in the Main Stadium. “I am very happy!,” he said overjoyed. “It is a young horse and still very inexperienced. I am really happy to have won in the big arena of Aachen! That’ always been one of my dreams.”

The Soers rocked as six triathlon teams, each comprising of an eventer and a show-jumper as well as a four-in-hand team attempted to outtrump each other in the MERKUR Casino-Cup. The Australian/Swedish trio won in the end.

Andrew Hoy (AUS) with Cadet de Beliard, Fredrik Spetz (SWE) with Lexus and Boyd Exell (AUS) with Bajnok, Barny, Maestoso Jupiter and Neapolitano Nimrod in front of the carriage left their fellow competitors trailing behind in the MERKUR Casino-Cup, a combined jumping, eventing and driving competition that is staged as a relay race.

After achieving a score of 165.28 points, they left the neighbouring countries out in the cold: Lara de Liederkerke-Meier from Belgium with Pumpkin de la Liniere as the cross-country specialist, Jur Vrieling with El Rocco (who already won the Feinkost Käfer-Prize yesterday, the speed and handiness competition over ditches and banks) in the show jumping and the driver from the Netherlands, Bram Chardon. The team achieved a combined score of 165.85 which put them into second place.

Until the above two trios hit the Soers by storm, Team 2 had headed the field: Gemma Stevens (GBR) with Santiago Bay over the solid obstacles, Pim Mulder with Ibylle over the show jumping course and the Swiss driver Jérôme Voutaz with his four Freiberger horses in front of the carriage. This trio finished on an overall score of 168.36 points.

Eleven pairs made it into the jump-off of the Sparkassen-Youngsters-Cup Final in 2023. In the end a Belgian duo finished ahead of two German pairs.

Jens Baackmann and his eight-year-old Holstein-bred Livello son, Lorenz, were the last pair in the jump-off, who had the chance to challenge Nicola Philippaerts and Pandora van de Kruishoeve for the victory. But that wasn’t to be the case. The time of the Belgian rider and his Belgian warmblood mare was simply unbeatable: 46.56 seconds. Baackmann and Lorenz notched up a time of 47.97 seconds, which meant second place for them. Rene Dittmer and his Westphalian-bred mare, Cavallina by Coupe de Coeur, finished third for Germany. The clock stopped at 48.54 seconds.

Nicola Philippaerts‘ winning horse, Pandora van de Kruishoeve, is a daughter of the KWPN stallion, Cidane (who is a Heartbreaker/Ramiro Z son) out of a dam by Elvis ter Putte-Clinton. She has been with the Philippaerts family since she was a six-year-old, i.e. for around two years. She has competed at shows under both Nicola and their employed professional rider Stijn Timmermann, who has done a “fantastic job” training the mare, according to Philippaerts. Among others he himself rode the mare at the World Championships of the Young Jumping Horses last year. But regardless of who is sitting in the saddle, she rarely collects any faults. Philippaerts: “I think she is a very good horse. She has always jumped super, which shows that she is not overwhelmed by such a huge arena like this one at all. So I hope she is going to be a good horse for the future.”

The Allianz-Prize was the highlight in the Main Stadium at the Aachen Soers on Saturday. After a dream round, Richard Vogel triumphed and left yesterday’s winner, Jana Wargers, lying in second place. Third place went to France again.

Anyone, who thought Jana Wargers and her Oldenburg-bred mare Chacco’s Lady were fast in the winning round of the Allianz-Prize, a 1.55-metre jumping competition, was astounded by the subsequent performance of Richard Vogel and Cepano Baloubet. That was super-fast!

Jana Wargers and her Chacco-Blue daughter, delivered a wonderfully fluent, clear round, the clock stopped at 42.16 seconds. But Richard Vogel and his just nine-year-old Chaman son sped round the ring, making it look like the pairs before him had been taking their time. He found the ideal take-off for every obstacle and in the turn that proved to be the “decisive element” of the winning round, they demonstrated why jumping horses have to be totally balanced and on their haunches. It was almost a pirouette – out of which Cepano Baloubet developed explosive impulsion to master the mighty Rolex obstacle. Vogel explained that “the tight turn was a mixture between a lot of things for sure. I spend half of the winter season in America and watch their skills and pick up a lot of tricks, riding in GER is more focussed on the dressage and combining this helps too. But my horse always searches for the fences, so that helps. Good rideability of the horses is very important and Capano also wants to get there and be quick.“

The clock stopped at 38.87 seconds. There was one pair to go, who are also well-known for their fast rounds. Philipp Weishaupt and Coby. They actually did achieve in topping Vogel’s time, but the take-off to the last obstacle didn’t quite fit and the rail fell, Richard Vogel had won. What it feels like to notch up his first big victory in Aachen, after winning the German U25 Trophy here three times in a row? “Now I know the difference between claiming a victory and coming second!”

He was referring to his placing in the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia yesterday, when he finished second behind Jana Wargers – which one must say he had been delighted about. “But coming first is a bit different…”

Like yesterday, third place went to France, albeit not to Kevin Staut, but instead to Marc Dilasser and Arioto du Gevres. With a time of 42.30 seconds the pair were slightly slower than Wargers and Chacco’s Lady. For Dilasser being placed wasn’t the decisive aspect: “The biggest problem was that I still have a star on my thigh after my fall at the last obstacle in the Nations’ Cup. So, I am overjoyed with our result today!”

Anyone, who watched the Allianz-Prize today, is probably asking himself, how Marc Houtzager’s Holy Moley is. The eleven-year-old gelding came to a halt after jumping over the last fence. Houtzager jumped off immediately and realised that Holy Moley couldn’t put any weight on his leg. He received medical treatment straight away. The horse has a soft tissue lesion that is being treated and the horse is in good shape.

What a jump-off in the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia! The time from the first round decided the starting order of the second round for the first time – a new rule that Jana Wargers took advantage of today.

Jana Wargers and her mare Dorette opened the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia punctually at 12.50 p.m. with a fast, clear round. Another 19 pairs jumped clear in the first round, but none of them were able to match Wargers and Dorette’ time, which meant they had secured themselves the pole position of the show-jumpers: Not first, but last to go.

Until then, Richard Vogel and the just nine-year-old Chaman son Cepano Baloubet had been in the lead. Nobody thought anyone would be able to beat the time they had set of 45.67 seconds. And then Jana Wargers and Dorette came and knocked almost two whole seconds off. In a time of 43.69 seconds they literally left Vogel trailing behind. How she did it? “I don’t really know myself,” the 2022 winner of the Nations’ Cup in Aachen laughed and immediately added a song of praise for her “super speedy and careful” mare. The pair have only been together for six months. Holger Wulschner brought the 14-year-old Dollar du Murier daughter on up to top international level. Then, she was under the saddle of the Irish rider, Max Wachman, for a while before she came to Jana Wargers.

Richard Vogel and Cepano Baloubet have known each other much longer. Two years ago Vogel claimed the title of German Champion of the Seven-Year-Old Jumping Horses with the Wuerttemberger DSP gelding. At the time, Richard Vogel had won the German U25 Trophy Final of the Stiftung Deutscher Pferdesport in Aachen for the third time. This year is the first time he has competed in the Big Tour. On Wednesday, he came fifth in the Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe, today he came second. What a great debut! Vogel: “We were already very successful in Wellington. But here in Aachen, at home, it is something very special, of course!” Incidentally, the pair won the Rolex Grand Prix in Wellington.

Third place went to Kevin Staut from France, who jumped clear in 46.41 seconds with the ten-year-old OS mare, Dialou Blue PS. Staut, who was one of the first pairs to go of the 17 starters in the jump-off (two withdrew),  said: “I watched the end of the jump-off from the stand. That was crazy! I was nowhere near the two of them, not even in the lap of honour, because I was frightened Richard was going to fall off because he was applauding the crowd. So, I thought I’d best keep my distance a bit… No, seriously, it was a fantastic afternoon!”

Jur Vrieling not only demonstrated what a good rider he is the speed and handiness competition over ditches and banks, the Feinkost-Käfer-Prize, but also that he is a fair sportsman.

“Forget it Rodrigo! I am not putting a foot anywhere near that water!” Is what the Holstein-bred Lord Lucio thought, as Brazil’s Olympic gold medallist Rodrigo Pessoa tried to ride into the pond. The bell had already rung, the next starter, Jur Vrieling with El Rocco was already in the ring. The Dutch rider, a horseman through and through, sped to his colleague’s aid and led the way in with his grey gelding. Lord Lucio plodded warily along behind him and was finally stood in the middle of the pond himself. Hand in hand, Vrieling and Pessoa rode round the pond. Constructive usage of the herd instinct! However, as soon as Vrieling and El Rocco left the pond to get ready for their round, Lord Lucio was back on land again as quick as lightning.

The small interlude didn’t stop the Dutch duo from jumping to victory with a clear round in 60.02 seconds. David Will came second with Accoton PS (63.81), followed by the Belgian rider, Wilm Vermeir with Eytuka Of Two Notes Z (65.26).

It doesn’t always have to be the Rolex Grand Prix that makes a top rider like Laura Kraut happy. Today, it was the victory in the VBR-Prize with a horse that has just made it back onto the top international sport circuit that left her grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Laura Kraut and Haley were the last pair to enter the ring of the VBR-Prize, a 1.45-metre jumping competition in two phases and left it as the winners. They knocked 0.25 seconds off the time of the hitherto leader, the Swiss rider Alain Jufer with his Westphalian-bred gelding Dark Grey MM by Diacasall. Ben Maher finished third with the nine-year-old Toulon son, Enjeu de Grisien (31.45 seconds).

Aachen is the first big show after a long period of injury for Laura Kraut’s eleven-year-old KWPN mare, Haley by Quality Time TN. Kraut has had the mare since she was a four-year-old and says: “A victory in Aachen is a huge success for her. This is one of her first shows after her injury. So, I am very, very happy. She is carrying on from where she left off.” Where the journey with the mare is headed? “One never knows. But her heart is definitely just as big as she is!”, the Olympic team silver medallist, Laura Kraut, stated.

This morning the NetAachen-Prize, an international jumping competition for aspiring young riders, went to the representative of a major dynasty of show-jumpers from this year’s CHIO partner country, Great Britain.  

20 pairs from eleven nations took part in the NetAachen-Prize. The fastest of all participants in the 1.35-metre jumping competition against the clock was the 20-year-old British rider, Sienna Charles, with her French Diamant de Semilly son, Valkiry de Zance, who jumped clear in 68.35 seconds. Second and third place went to Belgium, to Evelyne Putters with her KWPN mare, Eye of the Tiger (68.89), followed by Thibault Philippaerts with Pompidou van Kuilenhof (69.54).

Charles? Philippaerts? These are famous names from the jumping scene. Sienna Charles‘ father, Peter, was a member of the British Olympic gold medallist team in London in 2012. Her older brother Harry – as well as diverse other highest level accomplishments  – came second with the British Nation’s Cup team last evening. Whether he is Sienna’s role model? She laughed: “I ought to say yes. But actually Malin Baryard-Johnsson is my idol.” She still successfully models her style and desire to win on the Swedish team Olympic gold medallist and World Champion today. It meant a great deal to her that she was able to demonstrate that here in Aachen: “I am very happy to be here. My horse jumped fantastically and it is a wonderful opportunity for us young riders to be able to compete here at one of the best shows in the world. So, many thanks to Aachen that they make this possible for us!”

The Belgian Philippaerts family is equally well-known. It used to be their father Ludo who caused a stir in Aachen. His elder sons, the twins Nicola and Olivier, rode side by side in the Belgian team that came third in the Mercedes-Benz Nations’ Cup yesterday evening. And this morning not only the 21-year-old Thibault cantered from the stadium with a ribbon for third place, but also his young brother Anthony (20), who came seventh with Orchidee van Dorperheide.

Further riders in the class that descend from famous equestrian families included for instance the Irish rider, Harry Allen, who finished fifth with Kumina Della Caccia. He is the younger brother of the championship rider, Bertram Allen. Or Max Merschformann from Germany, the German Junior Champion of 2022, whose father Markus claimed team gold at the European Championships in Mannheim in 1997 and who went on to become the national coach of the Juniors and Young Riders.