Laurent Goffinet takes revenge in Aachen

His first appearance at the CHIO Aachen was a direct success: The 30-year-old French rider, Laurent Goffinet from Normandy, didn't give his fellow competitors a chance in the Warsteiner Prize: He rode clear in the jump-off in the best time (50.47 seconds) with the French stallion, Flipper D'Elle by Double Espoir, owned by the French National Stud. “I wanted to get my revenge in Aachen, because in the Grand Prix of La Baule, the stallion knocked a pole down on the last fence in the jump-off, which meant Marcus Ehning won,” said Goffinet. And he succeeded in taking his revenge: This time Marcus Ehning collected four faults in the jump-off, which resulted in fifth place for him.

The small stallion, Flipper D'Elle, likes big rings. His rider explained that the long canter stretches are ideal for the horse.

The bay, state-owned stallion is however not easy to handle. In order to improve his rideability, Laurent Goffinet took dressage lessons with the famous French trainer, Patrick le Rolland – and it obviously helped. He noted that he now has the stallion much more under control and can “subdue” his impetuous forward impulse.

The Swedish rider, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson finished second in the Warsteiner Prize with the Holstein gelding, Chianti La Silla by Caretino (50.61). The Celle-owned stallion Argelith Stakkato by Spartan saddled by Eva Bitter came third (52.60).

Rodrigo Pessoa wins Rolex Best of Champions

The well-being of the horses always takes priority: After prior consultation with the Sponsor Rolex and the riders, the tournament management of the CHIO decided, as an exception to the rule, to change the format of one of the most exciting competitions at the World Equestrian Festival – the Rolex Best of Champions. The “blame” for this was attributed to the sudden gale storms accompanied by heavy rainfall that lead to the sports agenda being interrupted.

The participants had to take a half an hour break. The Rolex Best of Champions competition was temporarily delayed.

The special charm of the Rolex Best of Champions competition lies in the world-class field of participants (the Olympic gold medallist, World and European Champions plus the previous year winner of the Grand Prix of Aachen) and in the fact that the riders have to change horses.

First of all the four top riders have to jump the course with their own horse and then with the horses of the other competitors. However, in view of the unstable weather conditions, the tournament management decided to shorten the format of the competition by striking the change of horses. Instead the champions, Olympic gold medallist, Rodrigo Pessoa (Brazil); World Champion, Dermott Lennon (Ireland); European Champion, Marco Kutscher (Germany) and the winner of last year's Grand Prix of Aachen 2005, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, only rode their own horses in two rounds, whereby the total faults and the time taken in the second round decided the ranking.

Rodrigo Pessoa, who had saddled the 11-year-old Holstein mare, Cantate Z by Cantus accomplished the task with the best overall result, collecting no faults in a time of 45.64 seconds, followed by Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum with the Holstein mare, Sansierra by Stauffenberg (51.51), who also rode two clear rounds. Marco Kutscher with the Holstein Carthago son, Cash, took third position with four faults in 46.94 seconds. Dermott Lennon, who had saddled the French stallion, Exploit du Roulard finished fourth (12/63.46).

Resultss (21.05.06
CSIO Aachen

Prova 7 – Small Grand Prix – AM5
1º Laurent Goffinet (Fra) / Flipper D´Elle HN / 0/0-50,47
2º Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Sue) / Chianti La Silla / 0/0-50,61
3º Eva Bitter (Ale) / Stakkato / 0/0-52,6
4º Holger Wulschner (Ale) / Cool-Man / 0/0-54,41
5º Marcus Ehning (Ale) / Gitania / 0/4-49,73
6º Philipp Weishaupt (Ale) / Conterno-Grande / 0/8-48,72
7º Christian Ahlmann (Ale) / Lorenzo / 0/8-50,39
8º Peter Eriksson (Sue) / Lanz / 0/16-54,85
9º Gerco Schröder (Hol) / Acapulco / 0/NP
10º Michel Robert (Fra) / Hockey Bleus D´Amaury / 1-93,55

Event 8 – Rolex Best of Champions
1º Rodrigo Pessoa (Bio Cantate Z / 0/0-45,64
2º Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Ale) / Sansierra / 0/0-51,15
3º Marco Kutscher (Ale) / Cash / 0/4-46,94
4º Dermott Lennon (Irl) / Exploit de Roulard / 0/12-63,46