s-Hertogenbosch: Daniel Deusser wins Grand Prix
Marcus Ehning and Christian Kukuk in eighth and tenth place<\b>
s-Hertogenbosch (fn-press). The Rolex Grand Slam has started the new season: The well-rewarded series, which also includes the top tournaments in Aachen, Calgary and Geneva, was opened in s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. Daniel Deußer (Rijmenam) won the first Grand Prix with the stallion Tobago Z and secured prize money of 231,000 euros.<\b>
In the grand prix of the five-star tournament in the exhibition and congress center Brabanthalle in s-Hertogenbosch, the athletes fought for the stately prize money of 700,000 euros. No wonder that many of the world's best show jumpers were at the start. The Dutch course designer Louis Konickx presented the riders and their horses with demanding but easily solvable tasks. In any case, twelve of the 38 pairs that started mastered the course without any mistakes. In the jump-off, Daniel Deußer found the best line through the course. Known for fast laps, his 14-year-old Zangersheide stallion Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z crossed the finish line in 37.9 seconds without a knockdown, once again showing his great form. On the Friday of the tournament he took second place in the main competition and in February at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington/Florida he won a five-star competition and finished fifth in one of the Grand Prix competitions. Deußer's ride in the Grand Prix of s-Hertogenbosch was rewarded with prize money of 231,000 euros (gross).
The second fastest ride in the jump-off was achieved by Dutchman Harry Smolders with the Holstein gelding Monaco, son of Cassini II. The clock stopped at 38.03 seconds. Third place went to his compatriot Willem Grewe with the stallion Grandorado (0/38.4), who was bred in his homeland. The two German riders Marcus Ehning (Borken) and Christian Kukuk (Riesenbeck) qualified for the jump-off after a clear round. Ehning sat in the saddle of his eleven-year-old Oldenburg stallion Stargold by. Staccato Gold all on one card. The pair shot through the jump-off course as fast as an arrow, but Ehning's willingness to take risks was not rewarded, the pole fell at the last obstacle (4/37.48, eighth place). The same happened to his colleague Christian Kukuk. The giant Becker rider in the Beerbaum stable conceded a down with the twelve-year-old Westphalian Comme il Faut son Checker at the start of the double combination. It was tenth place (4/39.16). Christian Ahlmann (Marl) was unlucky, his Belgian gelding Mandato van de Neerheide let the poles tumble at three obstacles in the course. hen
