Hamburg: Christian Ahlmann wins Grand Prix

It had poured with rain all night and also during the day in phases. Astonishingly, the grass surface in the jumping stadium's course in the Derby Park in Hamburg-Klein Flottbek was still easy to prepare, as the riders confirmed. Christian Ahlmann said: "I didn't have the feeling that it was very slippery or that the horses were getting out of control." The green only lost its turf in two or three places. 33 couples started in the Grand Prix, the course of which was designed by course designer Frank Rothenberger. Eight of them finished the round without any mistakes and qualified for the jump-off. The first rider was the reigning European Champion André Thieme (Plau am See) with his championship partner DSP Chakaria. The twelve-year-old Chap daughter (Brandenburg-Anhalt breeding association) was very fast and crossed the finish line in 51.33 seconds. The 22-year-old Irishman Michael Pender finished the jump-off with the gelding Calais, who was bred in his home country, in exactly the same time.

It should not be enough for the victory of the two. Christian Ahlmann mastered the course almost a second faster (50.51). He sat in the saddle of his exceptional horse Dominator 2000 Z, who has won a Grand Prix at five-star level for the first time since his victory in Doha in February 2021, also on the Global Champions Tour. “Dominator didn't have the best start this week, so I entered him in a small competition yesterday, but today he jumped excellently. He's always been a very special horse, he's a dream horse," said Ahlmann in praise of the twelve-year-old Diamant de Semilly son bred in Zangersheide. Last year, an injury to the horse prevented him from participating in the Olympic Games, but now Ahlmann is flirting with the World Championships in August in Herning/Denmark. "Yes, I have the World Cup on my list, it's my big goal, but you have to see that from tournament to tournament."

Andre Thieme seemed surprised that he and DSP Chakaria had done so well in the Grand Prix. "I actually wanted to focus on the derby, but I knew that the mare was in exceptional shape," he said. Two and a half weeks ago she proved this by winning the Badenia (Grand Prix of Mannheim).

Mario Stevens from Molbergen also stayed clean in the jump-off. He sat in the saddle of his only nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding Starissa by Staccato Gold (0/52.0). The two had already achieved two third places in the Hagen and Leipzig Grand Prix this spring. With Marcus Ehning (Borken) and Gerrit Nieberg (Sendenhorst), two other German riders held their own in the jump-off. Ehning and the Oldenburg Stargold, like Starissa a descendant of Stakkato Gold, also had a jumping fault (4/50.96) as did Gerrit Nieberg. He steered the Swiss gelding Blues D'Aveline CH by Baloussini crossed the finish line almost two seconds slower than Ehning (4/52.82). hen