Paris Panthers win Global Champions League leg of Riesenbeck just ahead of hosts
Nerves of steel and "a bit of luck"
Riesenbeck International versus Paris Panthers - that's how it stands in the overall standings of the Global Champions League and that's how the eleventh leg in Riesenbeck went today. It was highly exciting sport, it was a lesson in course construction and it was a huge success for show organizer Ludger Beerbaum and his team. Even if it was "only" second place for them in sporting terms.
With one time fault, the home team Riesenbeck International with Christian Kukuk on Just Be Gentle and Philipp Weishaupt with Zineday had taken the lead after the first of the two competitions for the Global Champions League leg of Riesenbeck. In waiting position were Ben Maher (GBR) and Jur Vrieling (NED) for the Paris Panthers. Which by the way also corresponds to the order in the overall ranking of the Global Champions League. After round one Christian Kukuk was still very cool: "No, I'm not really excited (before the second stage). I mean, we are in the lead and we always want to win (laughs). But the time doesn't matter in the second round ..." Because the main thing is that the poles stay up.
Then round two. This time, the competitors started in the reverse order of their placings from the first test. Course director Frank Rothenberger had once again increased the level of difficulty, not only in the height of the obstacles, but also in the lines and distances. Of the 21 individual riders, four remained without penalty points and the former Riesenbeck stable rider Richard Vogel was so fast with Cepano Baloubet that he could not be beaten until the end and thus won the individual classification of the competition. Then came the teams, 16 in number, Riesenbeck International last, before that the Paris Panthers.
Malin Baryard-Johnsson (SWE) on H&M Indiana and Olivier Philippaerts (BEL) with H&M Legend of Love were the first to jump clear for Stockholm Hearts, catapulting their team from twelfth place after the first round by ultimately eight places. After the Swedish-Belgian duo, the mistakes piled up again. Until it was the turn of the Shanghai Swans with Daniel Deußer on Killer Queen and Max Kühner with Coriolis des Isles. With only one drop by Deußer, they took the lead in the meantime after the teams previously placed in front of them fluffed.
When Jur Vrieling and Ben Maher stepped onto the Riesenbeck turf - the stadium, by the way, is the largest in the entire Global Champions Tour and six times the size of the smallest course in Monaco - the Shanghai Swans had at least a podium finish secured. Now it was up to the last two teams how it would turn out in the end.
Vrieling and Maher had both changed horses for the decider. Maher, in round one still clear on Ginger-Blue, yesterday's winner, now sat on the ten-year-old Dallas Vegas Batilly, who recently jumped two clear Nations Cup rounds in Aachen, among others. Jur Vrieling had saddled the Holstein gelding Long John Silver. Both pairs looked absolutely sovereign from the first to the last obstacle. Not a single drop. This meant that Kukuk and Weishaupt, both with their only nine-year-old horses also in action in round two, could not afford a drop either. Kukuk was the first of the two. His athletic Tyson daughter Just Be Gentle jumped super. But on the second jump of the triple combination she got caught. Out went the dream of the first home victory at the Global Champions League premiere in Riesenbeck. Philipp Weishaupt and Zineday did not let this upset them. With a safe clear round, they secured second place for Riesenbeck International and continued to lead the Global Champions League overall standings.
Jur Vrieling found consoling words for the Riesenbecker: "It's a bit unfair to say this, but we needed the luck today for them to make a mistake. Actually, Christian's horse jumped super. He didn't deserve the mistake, but he got it. That was our luck." But it was already a little more than luck, it was also tactics on the Panthers' part. Vrieling's reasoning in changing his horse for round two: "Long John is not the fastest horse, but he has a lot of ability and can jump any obstacle in the world in my eyes." And he had to in round two, as Ben Maher also confirmed. He has only had Dallas Vegas Batilly under saddle since last October (she previously went with Frenchman Nicolas Delmotte) and has been riding her with increasing success. "She is very sensitive. It took me a while to know how to handle her. But now she trusts me and I feel like we're developing a really strong partnership. It was a very good course, a few open jumps at the beginning, then tight distances again. Taking the line on the combination I would have found very difficult six months ago, so from that point of view I'm very happy about her development."
And one more thing was important for the two to mention: "This is an incredibly well organized tournament!" Jan Tops, founder and president of the Longines Global Champions Tour and then the Global Champions League, could only agree: "When Ludger built this facility - I know he's a horseman who knows what's best for the horses - and then a space became available here in Germany, that was the moment I thought this was the best option and the best place! And I think I speak for the riders when I say we are very happy to be here."
Ludger Beerbaum expressed his heartfelt thanks for the praise and immediately passed it on to his team. As far as the outcome of today's jumping was concerned, there was a promise of a tough fight: "The fact that we are 'still in the lead' sounds to me a bit like it is only a matter of time before that changes. But I can guarantee, even for these guys it will be pretty hard to pass us!"
