In the Stal van der Haar Prize at Jumping Amsterdam, a 1.45m two-phase class counting for the Longines Ranking, the pace was high from the start. With a clear round as the first requirement, the second phase turned into a battle for every fraction of a second, and the top five ended up separated by less than one second.
Victory went to Kevin Staut, who guided Hermes de Vesquerie (Vigo d'Arsouilles) through two faultless phases and stopped the clock in 27.28 seconds, the fastest time of the class. Germany’s Mario Stevens followed in second with Carrie 22 (Christian), also double clear in 27.58 seconds.
Third place went to Great Britain’s Jodie Hall McAteer, who produced another faultless performance with the BWP mare Kimosa van het Kritrahof (Chatman). Her time of 27.59 seconds left her just one hundredth of a second short of the runner-up spot.
Behind the top three, Robert Whitaker finished fourth with Gentlemen vh Veldhof (Quite Easy), jumping a clear second phase in 27.92 seconds. Belgium then came into the picture through Niels Bruynseels, who secured fifth place with Devidanga SW Z (Dominator 2000 Z) after another clear round in 28.14 seconds.
Hosting country The Netherlands also featured strongly with several placings in the prizes. Frank Schuttert steered La Luna Especiale (Cape Coral Rbf Z) into eighth in 28.99 seconds, while Hessel Hoekstra followed in ninth with Olimpic van de Sterhoeve (Dieu Merci van T&L), fault-free in 29.51 seconds. Harrie Smolders also kept a clean sheet with Estrello EH Z (Emerald), finishing 13th in 30.80 seconds, giving the host nation three combinations inside the top 13 in this Longines Ranking class.
