World Cup jumping in Amsterdam to the defending champion

The defending World Cup champions repeated their victory from three years ago in the World Cup show jumping competition in Amsterdam with a clear lead. When it was Julien Epaillard and Donatello d’Auge’s turn to go against the clock, their compatriot Penelope Leprevost was in the lead on the twelve-year-old Cardento son Ehning Flamingo with a time of 48.21 seconds. It was clear that they would have to beat her, but Epaillard and his 13-year-old Jarnac son, bred by the family themselves, were not expected to take more than eight seconds off her time. And how they did it!

Epaillard rode around the obstacles at a walk, patting Donatello’s neck once more in encouragement. He seemed to be just as concentrated as his rider. Once more backing up on the practically slack reins. Then it was off.

Donatello d’Auge does not jump spectacularly, but rationally. He doesn’t waste a centimeter in the air and therefore not a millisecond of time. When he lands, he is practically galloping again. His canter doesn’t have the greatest scope, but Epaillard can steer the gelding like a go cart. Once again, it was a lesson in jump-off riding. The clock stopped at 39.87 seconds. The following riders were all biting their teeth out at this time. They didn’t have the slightest chance.

Swiss rider Alain Jufer and his long-standing successful partner Dante MM came closest. The 15-year-old son of Diarado finished clear in 41.58 seconds. Third place went to another pair who know each other inside out: stylist Niels Bruynseels from Belgium on Delux van’t T&L (42.71).

The Epaillard secret: trust

When he is zero, Julien Epaillard is hard to beat in jump-offs. If you ask him about his recipe for success, the answer is: “Trust.” He trusts his horses, but above all they trust him.

If you watch the French rider in the warm-up arena, you don’t see him fiddling around with reins. He doesn’t really seem to care where the horse is holding its head, the main thing is that it is balanced, can be sent forward, picked up, turned left and right. These are the things he is practicing.

And if things don’t go so well, as was the case last night in the Grand Prix with the twelve-year-old Easy Up de Grandry, also by Jarnac, who had several knockdowns in the first round and seemed a little overwhelmed, then Epaillard picks up the pace, makes sure he manages one more good jump to give the horse a good feeling, and then lets it go. It’s no wonder that Richard Vogel asks him for advice when things aren’t going so well and then he’s right at the front again, as he was in Basel.

Stühlmeyer fourth twice

Patrick Stühlmeyer had a fantastic weekend. Yesterday in the Grand Prix, he was in the saddle on the twelve-year-old Veyron son Conterno-Blue PS, who he has had under saddle since 2025. The gelding was presented by the Danish rider Zascha Nygaard Lill up to 1.60 meters, was then sold to Mexico and had various riders from Mexico, Argentina and the USA last year before coming to Stühlmeyer in the autumn. The pair showed what beautiful show jumping can look like in yesterday’s round of the Grand Prix and ultimately finished in fourth place.

Victory remained in the Netherlands thanks to Frank Schuttert and his Cardento daughter Isis. They prevailed in the jump-off against the New Zealander Luke Dee on the OS gelding Gangster WW and Belgium’s European Team Champion and overall Global Champions Tour winner Gilles Thomas. Thomas was this time on the eleven-year-old Zangersheide Colestus son Chuck Marienshof Z.

As in Leipzig, Patrick Stühlmeyer had opted for the OS stallion Baloutaire PS for today’s World Cup jumping competition, with whom he came second in the Grand Prix in Frankfurt in December. The two have not been a team for very long. Stühlmeyer took over the Balou du Rouet son from his colleague Philip Rüping last year. But two people had obviously sought and found each other. Their very first jumping competition together ended in victory. In addition to the aforementioned success in Frankfurt, they also came third in the World Cup show jumping competition in Mechelen. Today they finished fourth with a clear round and two tenths of a second behind third-placed Bruynseels.

World Cup ranking

With today’s success, Patrick Stühlmeyer has a real chance of making it to the World Cup Final in Fort Worth, Texas, in April. He is now in 18th place in the Western European League with 28 points. The best 18 riders in this FEI region are allowed to compete in Fort Worth. So he would just about be there.

Julien Epaillard now leads the rankings with 66 points ahead of Willem Greve (NED) with 61 and Richard Vogel with 56 points. Daniel Deußer is seventh with 38 points.

All results and interim results can be found here.