Denis Lynch claims the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen

The Irish rider, Denis Lynch, wins the ROLEX Grand Prix of Aachen
Bad luck for Marcus Ehning – 4 faults for Noltes Küchengirl at the last fenceIt could have been so perfect: The first child in a few days, the rebirth of a formerly difficult to handle Noltes Küchengirl, who had already been written off, and the victory in the ROLEX Grand Prix. But it wasn't to be: The 12-year-old Bavarian-bred mare's and Marcus Ehning's hopes of winning the Grand Prix of Aachen for the first time went up in smoke. Their time was fast enough, because although the Lord Z x Cambridge daughter lost a horseshoe in the jump-off, the pair completed the course in the best time of 54.12 seconds and thus claimed third place.

As such, the victory at the World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen 2009, went to the Irish rider, Denis Lynch, with the Hanoverian Landkönig son, Lantinus. The pair crossed the finish line clear in 55.26 seconds. “Lantinus is a top class horse. After the oxer we had to take the longer route around the water jump, because we were so fast that I didn't manage the tight turn,” commented an elated Lynch.

Second place went to the Australian rider, Edwina Alexander on the 13-year-old Selle Francais gelding, Isovlas Itot du Château. The 35-year-old trains with her partner Jan Tops at his stables in Valkenswaard, Holland. She came fourth at the FEI World Equestrian Games, Aachen 2006 and ninth in the individual classification at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong with Isovlas Itot du Château. Alexander mentioned that she has amusing memories of Aachen after falling off twice here in 2002. The Belgian rider, Phillippe Le Jeune, came fourth in the jump-off with the Belgian warmblood, Vigo D'Arsouilles. His start had to be delayed in the second round, because his horse lost a shoe while warming up. Andreas Knippling had extremely tough luck. The 43-year-old who rode in the ROLEX Grand Prix for the first time this year, also jumped clear in the second round, but picked up one time fault with his Belgian-bred horse, Neolisto van het Mierenhof, which meant he didn't qualify for the jump-off. The Swedish rider, Helena Lundbäck, must have been really annoyed with herself after being eliminated in the second round for jumping the wrong fence.