Release date: 28/08/2022

Young Horses Final/Prize Roelofsen
It was a thrilling denouement in the Young Horses Final - Prize Roelofsen during the Longines Global Champions Tour in Valkenswaard. 12 young talented horses, including four six-year-olds, qualified for the jump-off. First in the arena was Dutch rider Michael Greeve with the six-year-old Zangersheide gelding Chilipepper Z (Crunch 3 x Diarado). They delivered a great round in a time of 42.70 seconds. The combinations after him had to focus on this. It was not until one of the favourites, the Irishman Darragh Kenny with Serenpedety (Hann, Stolzenberg x Escudo I), entered the ring. They lived up to their role as favourites and went well below Greeve's time of 39.33. After Kenny it was the turn of his compatriot Bertram Allen and he showed that it could be even faster. He stopped the clock at 39.17 seconds with Casanyo PS (OS, Casallco x Grand Canyon). Austrian Max Kühner (Eic Daloubet) and American Laura Kraut (Comius) also had clear rounds, but lacked speed. Then it was up to the last starter, the Swiss Janika Sprunger, to deny Bertam Allen the victory. And she did so in grand fashion. With a lightning-fast round, she stopped the clock at 38.68 seconds with Kinmar Scarlett. A fabulous victory for the partner of World Champion Henrik van Eckermann.

CSI2* Grand Prix
What an thrilling ending to the Longines Global Champions Tour of Valkenswaard. In the jump off every rider fought for victory in this 2* Grand Prix. Everyone got out of it what was in it. The first rider to go under 42 seconds was Germany's top rider Philipp Weishaupt with the elegant Zineday (Westf, Zinedine x Polydor): 41.12. A time that the following combinations somewhat misjudged. Belgian rider Alexander Housen took all the risks, but this resulted in a fault on the very last obstacle. However his time with Rockwell RC (ISH, by Kannan) was faster: 38.86. With this, he eventually finished 6th. This also happened to the Brazilian Yuri Mansur Guerios with Hellix du Seigneur (SBS, Curby du Seigneur x Calvaro), who finished in seventh place by making a fault on the last fence. His compatriot Marlon Modolo Zanotelli also put in a very good effort and managed to stay clear. He and his BWP stallion Grand Slam VDL (Cardento 933 x Heartbreaker) had a good pace and stopped the clock at 41.05 seconds. But was that enough for victory? The Irishman Bertram Allen could still throw a spanner in the works as the last starter. Allen also went flat out with the powerful Westphalian gelding Caprisco (Cole Porter x Arpeggio) but came 1.45 seconds short and finished in third place. A nice top three in this last competition of a successful and super exciting weekend.

CSI1* Grand Prix
On Sunday morning it was the Dutch Yoni van Santvoort to achieve a wonderful victory. In the 1* Grand Prix, 16 combinations came back for the jump off, of which Mexican Ernesto Canseco Olvera was the first to set a target time. The 37-year-old did well, going clear in 39.40 seconds with his KWPN gelding Innovation (Dantos x Now Or Never M). But hopes of a victory soon evaporated when Yoni van Santvoort appeared in the beautiful grass arena. She managed to improve Canseco Olvera's time and stopped the clock at 38.25 seconds. The only 13-year-old rider from Nuenen rode her top horse Esprit (KWPN, by Sir Scandic) in this test, with which she is included in the A-team Children. No combination managed to improve their time and especially the double (fence number 4) caused some problems. Only the Belgian Sander Kenis managed to come close, 38.37, and finished in second place with Milana van de Nianahoeve (Inshallah de Muze x Andiamo Z).

CSI2* Small Tour
The first competition in the beautiful sand arena of Tops International Arena was the 2* Small Tour class, against the clock. Of the 16 combinations, 10 managed to stay clear, but in this class it was of course also about the time. And the fastest time was achieved by the British Jane Annett with a wonderful round in a time of 69.00 seconds. The 50-year-old Annett, who runs Bourne Hill Stables in Horsham, West Sussex together with her partner, did this with the ISH mare Hold Up (Diarado x Courage II) who she has been riding at international level since April 2017 and with whom she recently won the 1* Grand Prix of Lier. Second place was for Swiss top international Jane Richard with Neptune de Muze (BWP, by Cadeau de Muze). The 39-year-old rider based in Italy (Ippica La Madonnina) has been a Longines Ambassador of Elegance since 2003. Dutchman Jack Ansems finished in third and fourth place with Kaboom (KWPN, Corporal VDL x Quattro 7) and the Holsteiner mare Hades MS respectively. The fastest time was ridden by Dutch Pascalle Lienesch (68.94) with Fermium (KWPN, Andretti S x Osmium) but the high pace unfortunately resulted in a fault on fence 8 and so she finished in 11th place.

CSI2* Medium Tour
On Friday they won the Small Tour and today they were the fastest in the jump-off of the 2* Medium Tour: Brazilian Marlon Modolo Zanotelli and his SWB mare Sin Cindy (Casilius x Cardento). As the fourth starter in the jump-off he managed to beat the time of 27.43 of first starter Johnny Pals with Balou Z (Zang, Balou du Rouet x Baloubet du Rouet) by almost a second: 26.45. And it meant that the competition was already decided, as all the combinations after them didn’t manage to improve on these times despite good attempts by big names such as Jur Vrieling, Ben Maher, Beth Underhill and yesterday's winner of the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix, the Irishman Michael Pender. Dutch rider Jur Vrieling came closest with the KWPN stallion Fernando H (Calvino Z x No Limit). They finished in third place with a time of 27.74 seconds. 

CSI1* 1.25m
A wonderful victory for the Dutch Pascalle Lienesch and her KWPN mare Krandessa (Carrera VDL x Kashmir van Schuttershof). They won the jump-off of the 1* 1.25m class on Sunday afternoon with a super fast round. As the last starter she took all the risk and flew through the arena to beat the time of the British Tess Carmichael by 0.32 seconds: 30.48. Carmichael therefore came second with Bangle SR (Holst, by Chin Chin). Dutch rider Siebe Leemans managed to face up all the girl power and came in third with Karamella (KWPN, Plot-Blue x Damiro B).

CSI1* 1.15m
In the 1* 1.15m class, the Dutch flag was hoisted during the prize-giving ceremony. Now it was 31-year-old Marielle Manders who was the fastest in the jump-off with her 14-year-old KWPN gelding Daros (by Larino). The rider already won a class in Valkenswaard with this horse once and that was in 2014. So they have been a combination for a long time and of course know each other through and through. The combination rode their fast clear round in 32.03 seconds. Second was the British Jessica Williams with Spice Girl TW (OS, Cabachon x Balou du Rouet). Her compatriot Kathryn Fanshawe came third with the mare Dia Centa PS, with whom she won the class on Saturday.