Lillie Keenan came out on top in the second Grand Prix qualifier in Aachen, six Germans without a knockdown

As in the first qualifier, the second qualifier for the Rolex Grand Prix of the TsCHIO Aachen was a 1.55 meter course, but this time with a jump-off. Today, nobody came anywhere near the performance of Lillie Keenan and her stallion Kick On. The Warrior son had already attracted attention with his speed at the World Cup final. Today, the pair were already one of the faster pairs in the round and in the jump-off they delivered a simply unbeatable time of 38.21 seconds with a clear round after a ride that was like pulling on a string in terms of style, harmony, rhythm and speed.

Lillie Keenan could afford to risk everything today. For tomorrow, she is relying on her long-time partner Fasther anyway, with whom she came sixth in the Grand Prix last year. “He is a very experienced horse – one of the best in the world for me. I think we have a very good chance if I do my job as well as I did today.”

The Belgian pair, who won the Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix in December, were the losers: Abdel Said (BEL) and Bonne Amie. The 13-year-old mare finished in 39.59 seconds and until Lillie Keenan and Kick On pulverized her time, the pair had looked like sure winners.

The Argentinean José Maria Larocca achieved a huge success on the DSP stallion Christ by Contendro, bred by Gabriele Eder, with third place in 40.10 seconds. Jérôme Guery, who came fourth with Quito de Mariposa, must also have been delighted. After the retirement of his superstar Quel Homme de Hus, things had recently become quieter around the Belgian rider. Today he left the two British team Olympic champions Ben Maher (Point Break) and Scott Brash (Hello Mango), among others, right behind him.

German show jumpers in top form

The show jumping also went very well for the German riders. Four reached the jump-off. Sandra Auffarth and Comcador OLD and Christian Ahlmann with Untouched LB only missed out due to a time fault. The best German pair were André Thieme and derby specialist Paule S with two clear rounds and a time against the clock that was good enough for seventh place. It became clear that Thieme is not only enthusiastic about Chakaria: “Paule has an abnormal ability and plays with the obstacles. In the round, it felt like a style jumping competition. I didn’t have to do anything, it felt incredibly good,” said the 2024 Aachen winner about his twelve-year-old Oldenburg.

Daniel Deußer on Pepita van’t Meulenhof picked up a knockdown and finished ninth. Sophie Hinners and Combella also had a jumping fault against the clock and finished eleventh.

René Dittmer’s Cody jumped outstandingly, as he did at the World Cup Final. The rider from Stade decided not to compete in the jump-off. The reason is obvious: Cody should save his strength for the actual decision tomorrow in the Rolex Grand Prix. Dittmer: “He felt great in the round, feels comfortable on the course. He jumped better and better over the course and that’s why I’m going to start him tomorrow. He should be well rested for this and so I have decided not to do the fast jump-off. I hope this is the right decision for tomorrow’s jumping.” Fingers crossed!

Club of Rome

National coach Otto Becker, who had already spoken to EQUI PAGES in Hamburg about the preparations for the WEG and a few other things, has now also announced which four pairs are to represent Germany at the Nations’ Cup in Rome. The pairs that are eligible for the WEG are to jump more on grass, as they will also have to do so in Aachen in August and the traditional arena in Rome is also a grass arena.

Competing there for Germany are:

• Sophie Hinners with Iron Dames Combella


• Christian Ahlmann with Untouched LB


• Richard Vogel with Cloudio or Gangster Montdesir


• Jörne Sprehe with Toys.

Another top three finish for Vogel’s youngster

The day in Aachen began this morning with the Youngster Tour, where this time the Swiss Champion trainer, Jannika Sprunger, was the beaming winner. She presented the eight-year-old Zangersheide mare Victory Music Z by Vigo d’Arsouilles, who rode clear in 69.22 seconds to ensure that the winner’s music was actually played for her.

Max Kühner came second on the OS mare Cardi MT by Conthargos, bred by Harm Oncken, followed by yesterday’s winning pair: Richard Vogel with United Call JPS. The eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding is a son of Vogel’s superstar United Touch and, like him, was bred by Julius-Peter Sinnack.

After yesterday’s victory, Vogel reported how impressed United Call was with the stadium. Aachen is his first international tournament ever. Two starts, one first, one third – not a bad record!

Also placed: René Dittmer and the Casall son Cajero bred by the Witt family in fifth place, Daniel Deußer with the BWP stallion Silence Dwerse Hagen in ninth place, Christian Kukuk on newcomer ESI Romeo, an Irish horse by Eldorado van de Zeshoek (12th) and Philipp Weishaupt with Aberdeen Z directly behind with the fastest four-fault round.

Epaillard does it again

Why win once when you can win twice, Julien Epaillard’s Jarnac son Easy Up de Grandry must have thought, and after yesterday’s 1.45 meter two-phase jumping competition, he secured his second time in a show jumping competition, this time over 1.50 meters against the clock. Sophie Hinners on the Kannan-daughter Kaleni Jo was delighted with third place for Hans-Dieter Dreher in the saddle on Harley de la Cense.

Sixth and seventh place went to Marcus Ehning with Flower Girl and René Dittmer on Brunson, both of whom also went clear. Christian Kukuk and the Irish rider HK Carrera, a ten-year-old son of Carrera VDL who is also one of the new additions to Kukuk’s stable, only had two time faults.

You can find all the results from Aachen here.