He will certainly soon become an honorary citizen, said announcer Kai Warnecke, welcoming Christian Ahlmann to the course. He has already won six Grand Prix plus a World Cup Final in Leipzig. And he also showed that he feels at home here on Saturday in the qualification for the World Cup competition on Sunday. The crowd favourite and his black Solid Gold Z (v, Stakkato Gold) proved how it's done with a masterful ride. After a fast 56.79 seconds, the two literally flew to the finish. And set new standards.
No one was to come close to this best mark. Almost three seconds later, Marlon Modolo Zanotelli galloped across the finish line with Harwich VDL (by Arezzo VDL). And that was still enough for second place. Another top placing went to Gerrit Nieberg and his high-flyer Ben (by Sylvain) in third place. Gregory Cottard and his rough mare Bibici (by Norman Pre Noir) jumped into fourth place ahead of Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann and her Messi van't Ruytershof (by Plot Blue).
"As always, we have a great audience here, a good atmosphere and my horse jumped at his best," Christian Ahlmann said happily after his ride. And praised his sporting partner: "I can ride him to victory on the first day and also on the last. He doesn't do anything wrong, he only rarely makes a mistake. He has always delivered, he was already World Champion as a seven-year-old."
Ahlmann will probably also saddle the black rider on Sunday at the World Cup leg in Leipzig. In order to finally collect a few World Cup points. An accident with a slip on asphalt in October prevented earlier entries for Solid Gold Z. "The chance for the World Cup Final is still there, but it is very small," knows Ahlmann, whose Dominatro 2000 Z is currently in stud at Lanaken.
But who knows, if the audience in "his living room" cheers him on like they did today, maybe it will still work out with the 20 points for the victory.
