Last Updated on March 31, 2024 by adminahb
Germany’s Christian Kukuk and Checker 47 clinched a win in the $500,000 Rolex CSI5* Grand Prix during the finale ‘Saturday Night Lights’ of the Winter Equestrian Festival’s (WEF) 2024 season on March 30. From final draw, Kukuk made his Wellington debut a winning one in the last of a 12-week run of FEI competition in front of a sold-out crowd at Wellington International.
“I had goosebumps after that last fence,” said Kukuk, 34. “It’s an incredible feeling.
I had only heard about Wellington and the Rolex week before this. I brought my two best horses and everything went exactly how I wanted.”
After finishing the runner-up in the qualifier earlier in the week on Mumbai, Kukuk piloted 14-year-old Westphalian gelding Checker 47 (Comme Il Faut 5 x Come On), owned by M.H & Partner GBR, to top call in his first-ever Rolex Grand Prix win.
“These [Rolex classes] are the best grand prix events in the year — we all know that — and we all work for them in the end,” said Kukuk. “This crowd and this stadium are special. To be last to go and win is an incredible feeling.”
The evening’s courses were designed by Guilherme Jorge’s (BRA), who is named as the Jumping Technical Delegate for the Paris Olympics this summer. Kukuk tackled the jump-off track with the foot speed of Checker 47, his winning mount from the 2023 FEI Nations Cup™ Final in Barcelona, Spain, to unseat current leader and local crowd favorite McLain Ward (USA).
“The pressure was a bit on and I could feel it in the warm-up, but I need that, to be honest,” continued Kukuk, who posted a time of 35.82 seconds over Ward’s 36.24 seconds. “I knew I could not do the same strides [as McLain], but I could try to turn a bit tighter after the double and that worked very well. When I landed, I knew I could be close so I tried everything I could and left one out to the last.”
Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque Put On the Gas to Win $62,500 Bainbridge Companies CSI5* 1.50m
The American flag flew high at the completion of the day’s $62,500 Bainbridge Companies CSI5* 1.50m as Karl Cook (USA) and Caracole de la Roque led yet another star-studded victory gallop.
Guilherme Jorge (BRA) brought forward a one-round speed track that 64 elite pairings would contest. Twenty-three completed the course without jumping faults, but Cook and Signe Otsby’s 12-year-old Selle Français mare (Zandor x Kannan*GFE) are known for their fast footwork, and today was no exception.
“She loves jumping and she really leans into things,” Cook explained. “When you ask her to turn, she’ll throw her body at it instantaneously, and when she sees the fence, she’s so good with her body and she lands ready to go.
“She’s incredibly smart and focused,” he continued.” She always has her ears forward, trying to figure out the problem in front of her. She knows so much; if I hint that we’re going left, she probably already knew that three strides ago.”
Emi Richard Doubles Down on Derby Success with Knight and Day
Across the showgrounds of Wellington International at the aptly-named Pony Island, pony competition was indeed in full force as 52 duos from the small, medium, and large divisions vied for the lion’s share of the prize in the $1,500 USHJA Pony Hunter Derby. Against some of the nation’s best up-and-coming riders, Emi Richard of Middlefield, CT once again laid down the gauntlet aboard Knight and Day to take home the top call.
Already the winning pair in the $5,000 USHJA Pony Hunter Derby during week nine, the young rider and Lakeview Inc.’s seven-year-old Dutch Riding Pony by Movie Star seemed to have the secret sauce as they paired scores of 88 and 92 for a winning total of 180 points.
“He jumps amazingly, and just the way he goes is so pleasant to watch,” explained Richard. “Today was a little bit different than our last derby win, which was out on the grass field, because this is the same ring we normally show in, but he still performed brilliantly like this was a new ring.”
For Richard, the goal of the year was consistency, and she said they achieved just that.
Wellington International
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