It was spectacular sport that offered Gregory Wathelet today in the €1,000,000 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen following three clear rounds with his 11-year-old mare Coree (by Cornet Obolensky). Marc Houtzager was the first to start the jump-off with Sterrehof's Calimero. After a beautiful round in 53,60 seconds Houtzager played on secure. Luciana Diniz showed from the outset that she was in it for the win, setting off in a high pace on her lovely chestnut mare. Diniz managed to push forwards though, and still got a good stride to clear the jump before she took on the penultimate combination and then cleared the final Rolex oxer to take over the lead in 47.40 seconds. It looked extremely hard to beat Diniz’s time, but Wathelet somehow managed to make the turn back to the Mercedes-Benz oxer even shorter and kept on urging his lovely white mare forwards over the last jumps being whistled and cheered on as he approached the last Rolex oxer. Crossing the finish line, Wathelet had managed the seemingly impossible and shaved off 0.80 seconds on Diniz’s time to go into the lead. Laura Kraut was the only one who could threaten Wathelet, and it looked good until the final fence where a pole fell – with the American rider having to settle into the fourth place while Wathelet could celebrate winning no less than 330.000 Euro for his first Major victory. The victory also marked the beginning of Wathelet's Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping-hunt, which includes a possible bonus of an incredible one million Euro should he triumph at Spruce Meadows and in Geneva.
It was spectacular sport that offered Gregory Wathelet today in the €1,000,000 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen following three clear rounds with his 11-year-old mare Coree (by Cornet Obolensky). Marc Houtzager was the first to start the jump-off with Sterrehof's Calimero. After a beautiful round in 53,60 seconds Houtzager played on secure. Luciana Diniz showed from the outset that she was in it for the win, setting off in a high pace on her lovely chestnut mare. Diniz managed to push forwards though, and still got a good stride to clear the jump before she took on the penultimate combination and then cleared the final Rolex oxer to take over the lead in 47.40 seconds. It looked extremely hard to beat Diniz’s time, but Wathelet somehow managed to make the turn back to the Mercedes-Benz oxer even shorter and kept on urging his lovely white mare forwards over the last jumps being whistled and cheered on as he approached the last Rolex oxer. Crossing the finish line, Wathelet had managed the seemingly impossible and shaved off 0.80 seconds on Diniz’s time to go into the lead. Laura Kraut was the only one who could threaten Wathelet, and it looked good until the final fence where a pole fell – with the American rider having to settle into the fourth place while Wathelet could celebrate winning no less than 330.000 Euro for his first Major victory. The victory also marked the beginning of Wathelet's Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping-hunt, which includes a possible bonus of an incredible one million Euro should he triumph at Spruce Meadows and in Geneva.