Aachen 2012: French victory in the opening competition

Roger-Yves Bost wins the NetAachen Prize – Rodrigo Pessoa finishes second – followed by Marco Kutscher as the best German rider.

The jumping competitions opened with a French victory: Roger-Yves Bost won the NetAachen Prize. The 46-year-old jumped clear in the fastest time with the stallion, Castle Forbes Vivaldo van Het.

At one o’clock on the dot the first winner of the CHIO Aachen had been determined. Bost prevailed against tough competition from 32 pairs who all jumped clear. His 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion that is owned by Lady Georgina Forbes was the quickest to reach the finish line of the course designed by Frank Rothenberger. The team World Champion of 1990, who currently lies 24th in the world rankings, was the eighth rider from a field of 99 to enter the stadium and he took 62.31 seconds to master the eleven obstacles (1.45 m high) of the 520 metre long course.

His fellow-competitors weren’t able to match his time, not even the Brazilian rider, Rodrigo Pessoa, who came second after crossing the finish line with HH Palouchin in 64.03 seconds. The best German rider was Marco Kutscher with Cornet’s Cristallo in third place. The rider from Riesenbeck completed the course in a time of 66.42 seconds. Hans-Dieter Dreher opened up the jumping competitions of the CHIO Aachen 2012. The man from Baden collected nine faults with his 11-year-old Argentine stallion, Magnus Romeo, and finished 84th in the overall rankings.

The competition was followed by an unexpected surprise: Ludger Beerbaum definitively withdrew from the Olympic qualifiers. After competing in the opening jumping competition with Gotha (15 faults/89th) the rider from Riesenbeck decided that he is only going to ride the Goldfever daughter in the smaller competitions at the show this week. “The mare is simply not in top form,” he wrote on his homepage. He noted further: “I am therefore no longer in the running to participate at the Olympic Games”.

Luciana Diniz riding the SF chestnut mare, Lady Lindenhof, had a clear round in 79,66s and were placed 21st. in the overall rankings.