“Winning just once in Aachen is fantastic, but twice is almost unbelievable,“ Steve Guerdat said after his victory in the RWE Prize of North-Rhine Westphalia. The 28-year-old who had saddled the Oldenburg gelding, Ferrari, took the lead with a clear round in a time of 44.04 seconds. Three of his fellow-competitors beat his time, however, Ludger Beerbaum with the Baloubet du Rouet son, Chaman, Luciana Diniz with the graded Darco son, Winningmood and Christian Ahlmann with the KWPN stallion Taloubet Z all knocked the last fence. This was especially bitter for Ahlmann, who crossed the finish line in the fastest time of 41.52 seconds at the CHIO 2010, World Equestrian Festival.
Bred by artificial insemination with frozen semen eleven years after the death of his significant father Furioso II, today Ferrari did credit to his sire, who died 24 years previously. The Selle francais stallion has influenced the entire sport horse breed and still lives on in his stallion line. “Ferrari is a very fast horse, sometimes he is even too fast and too strong. He always wants to do everything at once, but as long as I keep his ambitiousness under control, he is very careful. This victory was the best of his career so far,“ stated Guerdat.
Second place went to the Olympic gold medallist of 2008, the Canadian rider, Eric Lamaze, with his gold-winning horse Hickstead. “I didn’t arrive in Aachen until yesterday, and this was my first competition today. Hickstead flew in from Calgary on Wednesday already, and the fact that he jumped so well here, shows that he had a good journey,“ Lamaze explained. The pair jumped clear in 44.16 seconds.
The Dutch rider Albert Zoer, who sped over the course with the KWPN gelding Uraguay in 44.91 seconds, ranked third. “Uraguay is only nine and he is a very good horse, who still lacks a little bit of experience. He gets better from show to show and I think he is a horse with a future,“ reported Zoer.
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