Wathelet and Werth win in Aachen

From July 14-July 23, the CHIO Aachen (Concours Hippique Internationale Officiel, or Official International Equestrian Competition) presented a massive program of sport in five equestrian disciplines: jumping, dressage, eventing, four-in-hand driving and vaulting. And while there was action happening everywhere at this ‘Wimbledon of horse sports’, there was particularly strong anticipation for Sunday’s marquee Grand Prix of Aachen, with about 40 horse-and-rider duos initially set to do battle over two rounds with a jump-off.

In fact, in last year’s Grand Prix at the CHIO Aachen, there was no jump-off, as the home nation’s Philipp Weishaupt (29th this year) was the only rider who didn’t incur any faults in both regular rounds. This year, by contrast, four combinations made it through to the tie-breaker: Wathelet and Coree; Portugal’s Luciana Diniz; the Netherlands’ Marc Houtzager with Sterrehof´s Calimero, and the United States’ Laura Kraut with Zeremonie. That was a relief for Course Designer Frank Rothenberger: “I was just happy that there was a jump-off at all, not like last year,” he said.

In the tie-breaking round, Wathelet, Diniz and Houtzager all rode clear again, with Wathelet and his 11-year-old mare fastest in 46.60 seconds. The first-place paycheque was €330,000, with Diniz pocketing €200,000 for her lightning ride, and Houtzager €150,000.

The prize money was staggering, but to get to the podium the trio had to get past the top talent on the planet, including McLain Ward and HH Azur (7th), Eric Lamaze and Fine Lady 5 (8th) Scott Brash and Ursula XII (9th), Lorenzo De Luca and Ensor de Litrange LXII (11th) and Kent Farrington and Voyeur (14th). (Young Irish star Bertam Allen, with Hector van d´Abdijhoeve, withdrew from the Class). As Wathelet explained later, “It doesn’t suffice to give 100 percent to win here in Aachen. One has to give 500 percent!”.

In Dressage at the Deutsche Bank Stadium, Olympic hero Werth and her 12-year-old black mare Weihegold OLD lived up to their billing with a triumph in the Grand Prix Dressage of Aachen, overcoming compatriot Sönke Rothenberger and Cosmo 59, as well as American Laura Graves on Verdades (3rd). Graves was disappointed with her results, having set her sights on beating her decorated German rival in the Freestyle Grand Prix.“I just hope that I will be invited back,” she joked later during a press conference.

2017 CHIO Aachen — Full results for all disciplines