Saturday evening traditionally featured the Amsterdam Grand Prix, a CSI5*-W 1.60m Grand Prix with a jump-off, counting for the Longines Ranking Group B. Thirteen years after his first victory, Frank Schuttert returned to the top as he soared to gold with Isis.
It was another triumph for the Dutch, as Frank Schuttert guided Isis (Cardento) to a double clear round and stopped the clock in 37.82 seconds to take the win.
Luke Dee came closest, delivering a second double clear with Gangster WW (Grand Slam) to finish runner-up in 38.78 seconds. Belgium secured the final podium spot through Gilles Thomas, who steered the Zangersheide gelding Chuck Marienshof Z to another faultless jump-off round, taking third in 39.18 seconds.
Just behind them, Patrick Stühlmeyer claimed fourth with Conterno-Blue PS (Veyron) after a clear jump-off in 39.22 seconds, only four hundredths of a second behind Thomas. The top five then gained another Belgian touch thanks to Annelies Vorsselmans, who produced a faultless round with VDL Kelton (Bubalu VDL) in 40.35 seconds, confirming her place among the evening’s leading contenders.
The Dutch result remained strong beyond the victory as well. Marc Houtzager jumped to seventh place with Loeca N.D. (Gino) after a clear jump-off in 42.83 seconds, while Kim Emmen just missed out on the jump-off, finishing 14th with four penalties in the first round aboard Hellix du Seigneur (Curby du Seigneur).
With Schuttert taking the win and several Dutch combinations staying in contention right to the end, the Amsterdam crowd witnessed a Grand Prix in which the home nation made its presence felt at the very highest level.
