Frederick Troschke wins the Grand Prix ahead of two home riders
Course director Peter Schumacher ensures exciting days in Riesenbeck
52 starters saddled their horses in the round of the CSI** Grand Prix of Riesenbeck, eleven of them qualified for the jump-off - and Frederick Troschke (Hagen) left the chasers very close behind with his ten-year-old gelding Camelot (0/34.78). He won ahead of Philipp Hartmann from Ludger Beerbaum's stable and his 15-year-old gelding Cool Feeling (0/34.86) . As the pair had already taken second place last weekend, anger about the missed victory and joy about the repeated good performance balanced each other out. Third place went to another member of the Beerbaum stable. Christian Kukuk and the twelve-year-old gray gelding Creature (0/36.06) completed the podium after this jump-off, which captivated the spectators and remained exciting right up to the last rider.
Course director Peter Schumacher, a welcome guest in Riesenbeck and, due to his highly praised courses, together with Frank Rothenberger also responsible for the Longines Global Champions Tour in July had a difficult task to master. The 320 horses and their riders were not a homogeneous group, but at very different levels of performance: young, inexperienced, after a break due to injury, young, inexperienced, back in good form after a break due to injury, or in the process of rebuilding show mode. The team around the course designer wanted to do justice to all of them. There should not be too many zero-fault rides, it should not become boring given the large starting fields - and the best should win in each test. That is the lot of the men with the obstacle plan in the computer and the measuring tape in their hands.
"We had about 30 riders more than last weekend with us," tournament director Karsten Lütteken. There were again 15 competitions on the schedule, and the riders and their horses were busy from early in the morning until late in the evening.
The who is who of German show jumping was at the start. With this line-up, national trainer Otto Becker, who was also able to watch his daughter Mia-Charlotte in the saddle of her Lasse K could easily have put together two powerful Nations Cup teams.
In front of them were the Olympic riders Christian Ahlmann, Marcus Ehning, Christian Kukuk, Gerrit Nieberg and Philipp Weishaupt. Ahlmann won the Small Tour Final with Pocahontas on Saturday, finished fourth in the fourth in the main jumping competition on Thursday with Otterongo Alpha Z and in the main jumping competition on Friday once again fourth again - this time with D'Aganix 2000 Z. If this is not a good preparation for the "Zangersheide International" four-star tournament, which his partner Judy Ann Melchior will be competing in next weekend in Opglabbeek, Belgium.
Sandra Auffahrt, better known for her team gold medal at the Olympic Games 2012 and the world championship title in the individual classification in 2014 - albeit in her parade discipline of Eventing - won Friday's main show jumping competition in the Grand Tour on Quirici H.
From the Netherlands there was again Jur Vrieling, who is currently celebrating many international successes. With Griffin Van De Heffinck, he won a Grand Prix in Riesenbeck just before the end of the year, and really got going again with the gray horse at this tournament on Thursday with a victory in the Grand Tour on Thursday. Unfortunately, the gray horse refused in the jump-off at an overbuilt water oxer, the rider fell and thus the pair was disqualified.
