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It was a battle of the titans as 37 of the world’s top show jumping riders took on a masterful track set by Ireland’s Alan Wade and his course designing team in the WEC Grand Arena. Nine of those entries produced a clear round to move forward to the jump-off, where six again jumped clear. As the first rider back for the all-deciding jump-off, Kukuk put the pressure on with an efficient clear in a time of 40.61 seconds. His strategy worked as none who followed were able to better his performance with Just Be Gentle, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Tyson x Ticallux Verte) owned by Ludger Beerbaum Stables GmbH and Stal Knijnenburg BV.
“I was first to go; that’s always quite difficult in a jump-off, but I really tried,” said Kukuk, 35. “You always need a bit of luck, and now I’m the winner, and I’m very happy. I think my horse did a great job today. She is naturally a very fast horse.”
“She’s a sharp lion and, in the ring, she wants to go fast,” continued Kukuk, speaking of his partner of the past two years. “The more you ask of her, the more ability she gets. I am very, very happy to have her in my stable. She will step up in the Nations Cup on Saturday, and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
Coming closest to catching Kukuk was Cian O’Connor, who was a member of the winning Irish team at last year’s inaugural Longines League of Nations™ Ocala event. With his latest superstar, Iron Man, a 12-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Charisma Z x Mr. Blue) owned by Karlswood Partners, O’Connor finished just off the winning pace with a time of 40.81 seconds.
“I was so pleased because it was the first time I’ve gone a little bit more against the clock on him,” said O’Connor about his jump-off performance with Iron Man, a horse he began riding in August of last year. “Christian is who he is, an Olympic champion, and his horse is fantastic and very quick. I was just happy with my round. I looked up at the clock and saw it was .2 slower, but quickly, I realized it was still a very good result.”
Two up-and-coming female competitors, 25-year-old Nina Mallevaey of France and 20-year-old Mimi Gochman of the United States, gave the Olympic veterans a run for their money. Partnered with Nikka vd Bisschop, Mallevaey, currently second in the Under 25 rankings, impressed with a clear round in a time of 41.14 seconds to take third, edging Gochman down to fourth place with her time of 41.20 seconds riding Inclen BH. World number one Henrik von Eckermann rounded out the top five with a clear round in a time of 42.22 with the fan favorite, King Edward.
