Kukuk's Viki van Gogh wins CSI4* Ocala

He rode the nine-year-old Van Gogh daughter Viki van Gogh in the 117,000 dollar qualifier for the Grand Prix of the CSI4* tour of Ocala. 50 pairs were at the start, eleven reached the jump-off, nine competed, four remained clear a second time – including Kukuk and his young mare, who was also faster than all the other competitors, even those with knockdowns.

In 37.01 seconds, Viki van Gogh beat Itchcock des Dames under the Lebanese rider Jad Dana (37.65). Third place went to the British triple Olympic champion Ben Maher, who had also saddled up a young horse with the Monte Bellini son Maddox vh Haringvliet Z (37.91).

About Viki van Gogh

This was Viki van Gogh’s first victory at four-star level, and what’s more, it was her first placing in a course that demanded more than a 1.45 meter jumping competition. However, at the age of nine, she has not yet competed in too many of these. Yet she and Christian Kukuk have known each other for a long time. The Hanoverian mare was bred by Johann Duin. She became the property of Beerbaum Stables in 2022. After initially being presented by Kukuk’s colleague Philipp Hartmann, Christian Kukuk took over the reins in the fall of 2023 and built the mare up through the Youngster Tour. She was one of the horses that Kukuk took with him when he left Beerbaum Stables at the beginning of the year to set up his own business. She is now in US ownership. Today she has shown the Olympic champion Kukuk that his trust in her was justified.

He is happy on Instagram:

Viki Van Gogh has been working towards this for a long time and won her big victory today!

As the last to start, the pressure was on, but she put in a faultless performance in today’s 4* Grand Prix qualifier over 150 m and took the lead.

What a great mare, she is getting stronger and stronger!

Kukuk offspring number two

The riders had the opportunity to enter two horses in the qualifier. Christian Kukuk took advantage of this opportunity and presented the ten-year-old Akarad Tivoli Z alongside Viki van Gogh. He is really new to his stable, a son of the internationally 1.60 successful Akarad Hero Z, who was born to the Zwartjens family from the Netherlands and was presented internationally by Meike Zwartjens until recently. After a brief intermezzo with Bertram Allen, Christian Kukuk took over the reins at the beginning of the year. Last weekend, the pair came third once in a 1.50 jumping competition in the CSI5* tour. Today they had one knockdown.

Another youngster on the rise

Another horse to keep an eye on is Ben Maher’s Zangersheide Monte Bellini son Maddox vh Haringvliet Z. He is also only nine years old. He was born at A. Hoekstra in the Netherlands. Jelmer Hoekstra brought him into the sport and rode him to a bronze medal at the World Championships for Young Show Jumpers at the age of six. Two months later, Ben Maher bought the gelding. Since last year, he has been owned by Maher’s patrons Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter, who also owned Maher’s Olympic champion Explosion. It remains to be seen whether Maddox will become a second Explosion. Last year, he was already twice among the top three in the Youngster Tour of Aachen.

You can find all the results from Ocala here.