Release date: 11/07/2021

The first 'summer event' at Tops International Arena on Sunday featured two Grands Prix and a Final that offered the audience and viewers at home great and exciting top-class sport.
 
And what a thrill, what a battle in the beautiful and exciting jump-off of the CSI2* Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Of the 54 combinations in the first round, 14 came back in the jump-off. Germany's top rider Christian Ahlmann was the first to go clear with the eight-year-old gelding Nachito v/d Ketze (Quality Time x Baloubet du Rouet) in a super fast time, 34.39. A time that seemed difficult to improve. Egyptian Nayel Nassar came close, stopping the clock at 34.40 with Coronado (Cassini I x Acord II). Teddy Vlock (Israel) demonstrated how to go faster with Volnay du Boisdeville (Winningmood x Jalisco B). Even though he needed a bit more space to the blue jump-off, he had such a high pace that he improved Ahlmann's time by 0.23. The experienced Marcus Ehning went even further, flying through the course with Cupfer (Casall x Landos) and dropping below 34 seconds: 33.98. The tension was palpable when Darragh Kenny entered the arena. He and Storiall Blue (Stakkato x Chacco-Blue) delivered an incredible performance and stopped the clock at 33.30. But that was not enough when Julien Epaillard raced over the finish line. The Frenchman and his super fast and agile stallion Calgary Tame (Old Chap Tame x Kashmir van 't Schuttershof) flew over the last fence and stopped the clock at 32.09. There were still two combinations to go, Janika Sprunger and Caroline Devos-Poels. Could they still spoil things? Switzerland's Sprunger almost succeeded with Carlotta, but had to settle for second place.
Epaillard had a successful weekend. "I am very happy. I started with two horses in the 2*. Yesterday I won the 1.45m with Cheyenne d'Auge and today the Grand Prix with Calgary Tame. That promises a lot for the future. It is great that our young horses can gain experience here. Next year they will be 10 and then I think they will be good Grand Prix horses." Epaillard's round was unprecedentedly fast. "It felt fast too, but I knew Janika was coming after me, so I rode as hard as I could."
 
The 1.35m direct time was won by Belgian Jordy Van Massenhove and the BWP mare Nelke van het Zonnehof (Cayenne vd Heffinck x Orlando). The Irish top rider Darragh Kenny won the 1.35/1.40m with Cicomein VDL (KWPN, Chacco-Blue x Jus de Pomme).
 
CSI1* Grand Prix: Charles Berthol flies to victory
In the CSI1* Grand Prix, 27 riders came to the start and seven of them had a clear round to fight it out in the jump-off. Britain's Tess Carmichael was the first to ride into the beautiful grass arena to set a target time for the others with Berlin's Kojak (Berlin x Kojak). However, her chances of victory fell on the pink oxer and she left the arena with 4 faults. A sixth place was the result. The chances of victory for Italian Gianluca Apolloni and the 10-year-old C-Colita (by Colman) ended at the second fence. A second fault on the first fence of the double relegated him to seventh place. The American Catherine Brentzel did manage to stay clear with Julyssi van Orti (Cicero Z x Vigo d'Arsouilles). She stopped the clock at 39.82 and so the goal was set for the riders after her. The Dutchman Patrick van der Schans put in a good pace and also stayed clear in 39.82. With that he took over the lead with the seven-year-old stallion Jager (Numero Uno x Carthago Z). The Frenchman Charles Berthol and the fast and agile Lordabel Z (Lordanos x Caretano Z) clearly had their sights set on victory. Lordabel flew over the fences with great ease and improved the time by 2.22 seconds. The last two combinations took every risk to beat Berthol's time, but Austrian Felix Koller fell just 0.35 short with the impressive Halifax W. Switzerland's Geraldine Staumann realised the fastest time, but at the cost of a fault on the very last fence with Chakira (Cascadello II x Cartani 4).
 
"It is always nice to win, but to win the Grand Prix here, for the first time on the grass in Valkenswaard, is great," said a happy Charles Berthol. He didn't think the course was too difficult. "There was a challenge everywhere and the time for the jump-off was sharp. I took six canter jumps towards the last fence instead of seven and because of that I think I was faster." Charles is grateful to his horse Lordabel: "He does the maximum for me."
 
The two other competitions in the CSI1*, the 1.25m direct on time and the 1.15m with jump-off, were won by Jennifer Hochstadter for Liechtenstein with Tino de Nouvolieu (King Size x Efle de B'Neville) and German Christina Gierlich with Cantuccini (Kannan x Quidam's Rubin) respectively.
 
Young Horses: six-year-old Celebrity H
Course builder Uliano Vezzani presented a challenging, selective but fair course in the Young Horses Final. Of the 26 combinations, seven managed to get through to the jump-off. German Tobias Meyer and Celebrity H (Comme Il Faut 5 x No Limit) had the challenge of being the first to set a time in the jump-off. And they took up that challenge to the full. With a smooth and fast round, they crossed the finish line in 38.97 seconds. It turned out to be the winning time at the end. The Dutchman Loewie Joppen also stayed clear with the elegant Clown of Picobello Z but the time was not good enough, 42.91. Bart Bles had 4 faults on the oxer with the powerful and strong 6-year-old stallion Kardesh (Etoulon x VDL Zirocco Blue) and finished in third place. Yesterday's winner Bas Moerings was now fourth with Kwik Tweet with 8 faults.
 
A delighted Meyer said afterwards: "I feel great, the victory, to be here, it's a great event and my horse jumped well all days." Tobias had nothing but praise for his horse Celebrity H, "she is a special horse, hot, but incredibly careful. She never makes mistakes in the ring, it is always fun to ride her. I think she is the best six-year-old in the world! To achieve such an achievement as a six-year-old means a lot of course. "Yes, I think she has enough scope but I don't know yet if she can jump 1.60m, but she can certainly perform at a high level. In her head it's all right too, this was the first time she jumped on grass and she just does it." Meyer was impressed with Tops International Arena. "It's the first time I'm starting here. I've never seen such a beautiful grass arena. But also all the other arenas, the stables and the whole management are great."