Veni, vidi, vici for Karl Cook and Caracole de La Roque in first ever Rolex Series Grand Prix of Rome: "A quick but solid round"

F. ©: Rolex Series

The places in the second round of the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome were reserved for the top 13 riders. Max Kühner (AUT) was the last to start in the first round, at which point there were exactly 13 faultless rides. Riding the Eldorado vd Zeshoek gelding Elektric Blue P, the Austrian also remained faultless and was fast enough to qualify for the final. This caused Peder Fredricson (SWE) with the Zangersheide stallion SV Vroom de La Pomme Z (Vigo d'Arsouilles) to just miss out.

In the second round, the combinations started in reverse order. Gerfried Puck (AUT), distinctive in his striking green outfit, was the first to enter the arena with Equitron Naxcel V. Riding the Balou du Rouet stallion bred by Leo Vermeiren, he immediately set the bar high by remaining faultless in a relatively fast time of 43.92s. The second rider to keep the wood in the cups was 'Joe' Stockdale (GBR). Aboard Equine America Cacharel (Cachas), he was even over two seconds faster than the Austrian, taking the lead.

Thibeau Spits' (BEL) former mount, Foncetti vd Heffinck (For Pleasure), proves to be a good wingman for his new rider, Salim Ahmed Al Suwaidi. Together with the Arabian, he delivered the third faultless round and crossed the finish line with the stallion in 44.36s. Kühner (AUT) demonstrated that his selection for the final was no coincidence, guiding Elektric Blue P to the finish line just under two seconds faster than Stockdale, who was still in the lead at that point. No Austrian rider had ever won the Grand Prix in Rome before.

The BWP mare Odina van Klapscheut (I Am Moerhoeve's Star) came into action with Petronella Andersson as the penultimate combination in a challenging course and created real suspense. Riding on the mare's neck towards the last obstacle, she cleared it flawlessly but was 20 hundredths of a second too slow to take the lead.

Karl Cook (USA) left the competition in the dust with his Zandor mare Caracole de La Roque, winning with a fast time of 38.27s. For the American, it's only his second 5* victory on European grounds.

"The goal was a very solid, fast round. You had to go fast, we could see everyone go. I wanted an efficient, crisp jump-off without overkilling it. I don't know if there was one place in particular where I made the difference. Caracole is so quick, on the ground and on the fences. She's overall very fast. For me, I tink it was the cumulative effect over the whole course."

"It's amazing to take home this victory. It's only my second 5* victory in Europe. I'm very proud of my horse and my team. It's a very nice feeling. It's always a bit with mixed feelings having to take a break from the sport for personal things (Cook recently got married) but it's nice to come back, well rested en to go all in from the start."

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