There was no holding back Daniel Deusser and his Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z in todays Rolex Grand Slam at the Dutch Masters "I was feeling confident as the horse has felt in very good shape over the last couple weeks, but you still have to bring it on the day of course."
Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z jumped very well in the first round, he felt really nice but we had a lot of competitors in the jump-off which always makes it harder and puts on a little bit more pressure. It made me think about what tactic I should play a bit more, I tried to do one less stride from the first to second, but I knew even when I had done my perfect round, that there were good riders to come and it could maybe be beaten. I was very lucky that the ones who tried to go faster had the last down and I am over the moon with this result.
When you saw Harrie Smolders’ quick time, did that change your tactics at all?
No, I didn’t think about that when I went into the ring. I had walked the jump-off before the class started and worked out my options. It all went to plan and was exactly how I wanted to ride it and it feels very good when it all works out!
You are now the Rolex Grand Slam live contender once again, how will prepare for CHIO Aachen?
CHIO Aachen is still along way away. Of course, the bonus is an extra motivation, I will try to plan that I make sure I have one of my best horses in the right shape to perform in Aachen. I will continue to work with the horses, see how they develop and are performing and then I will make a decision who I take.