It was a perfect start for Gerrit Nieberg and his sporting partners at the CSI5* Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, Canada. In the first competition, the $40,000 Atco Cup over 1.50m, the live contender for the Rolex Grand Slam qualified his two horses Ben and Blues D'Aveline CH for the jump-off with great clear rounds. Nieberg spared this year's Rolex Grand Prix winner from Aachen, Ben, the jump-off so that he still had enough energy in the tank for the Rolex Grand Prix on Sunday. With Blues D'Aveline, Nieberg was able to pick up a ribbon and seventh place after the jump-off.
The victory went to Kent Farrington and Creedance. The pair had to go into the jump-off first and put the competition under pressure. Mission accomplished: After 43.94 seconds the ride was over and Farrington could not be caught. Sanne Thijssen and Con Quidam RB came closest to the best time with a jump-off time of 44.14 seconds. The bronze medal went to Matthew Sampson and Ebolensky, followed by Max Kühner and Up Too Jacco Blue.
Daniel Deusser and his Killer Queen VDM, the CHIO Aachen winner of 2021, also delivered a fine round without pole contact. However, Deusser deliberately did not go for a jump-off, but galloped carefully to the finish with only two time faults. Higher tasks await him.
