Marcus Ehning second in the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Shanghai behind Nicolas Philippaerts

A total of 19 of the 40 pairs in the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Shanghai had reached the jump-off. So there was a second sifting to be done here and this time the “door” was tougher – only three pairs remained double clear. The European team champions Nicola Philippaerts (BEL) and his highly experienced fighter Katanga van het Dingeshof were the first pair and did an excellent job with their faultless 45.31 seconds. Yes, they could have gone faster. But faster and clear was not possible. Nicola Philippaerts had to tremble for 18 rides, but in the end he kept his nose in front, taking the win and with it the ticket to the Super Grand Prix at the end of the season.

Ehning’s Coolio in top form

Marcus Ehning, for whom Shanghai was his first Global Champions Tour appearance after his knee injury, had ten rides to watch as his colleagues struggled to beat Katanga’s time. Only one pair was faster: Scott Brash (GBR) and Hello Chadora Lady. But they also had a knockdown and finished fourth in the end. Marcus had saddled up his 13-year-old Holsteiner Coolio for the highlight of the weekend, his best horse in the stable alongside the long-injured Aachen winner Stargold. Coolio’s last five-star tournament was almost six months ago. That was at the Global Champions Tour Final in Prague, where the gelding was at the front several times. Today he showed that he has not forgotten anything. Ehning took calculated risks and Coolio flew to the finish line in a clear 47.14 seconds. This was to remain the second-best ride of the day until the end.

The third pair, who also finished three times, were France’s Antoine Ermann and the twelve-year-old KWPN stallion Jiamo by Thunder van de Zuuthoeve. Their 48.02 second round was based on safety and the recipe worked.

Six more Germans placed

In addition to Ehning and Coolio, six other German pairs were among the clear half of the starting field from the first round. Christian Ahlmann had saddled up the nine-year-old Aganix du Seigneur son Applebridge Tag Z, collected one fault and delivered a time of 46.17 seconds, which was good enough for sixth place. Hans-Dieter Dreher and Elysium lined up directly behind them with four faults in 46.85 seconds.

Sophie Hinners and her Swedish Singular La Silla son Singclair, who is so powerful at jumping, came out of the course in Shanghai with one fault and finished ninth (48.57). Eleventh place went to Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann and Cascais, also with four faults (49.46).

The Grand Prix ended with eight penalty points each for Philipp Weishaupt on Mastermind RL (15th place) and Kendra Claricia Brinkop in the saddle on Replay van’t Paradijs (17th place).

Maher with coachman’s horse in the jump-off

A few days ago, we reported that Marco Kutscher’s top horses Catelly and Aventador S are now in Ben Maher’s stable. The British rider had used the national competitions in Wellington to get to know his two new additions. Shanghai was now the first five-star tournament for the new Maher/Catelly duo, and the start was promising. After they were one of the 19 pairs in the jump-off and had one knockdown here, Maher did not even try to make the 14-year-old Holsteiner fast, but instead rode the Catalido son over the course in a relaxed 61 seconds, building up confidence and accepting three time penalties. This meant he was still in the money in 13th place.

You can find all the results here.