Ludger Beerbaum claims victory in the Rome Grand Prix

Ludger Beerbaum became the ninth German rider in the 80-year history of CSIO Rome to win the coveted Roma Loro Piana Grand Prix at the Piazza di Siena on Sunday. Partnering the 11 year old mare, Gotha FRH, he clinched victory with a superb second-last-to-go run against the clock to snatch the honours from fellow-countryman, and 2005 Rome Grand Prix Champion, Christian Ahlmann.

It was a special moment for Beerbaum, as this was one title he had never previously managed to take during his long and illustrious career. “I can tell you, it makes me very happy!” said the 48 year old after receiving a standing ovation from the Roman spectators who knew they had seen a master at work during the thrilling 13-horse jump-off.

From a German perspective it has been a spectacularly successful week, as the team also trounced the opposition in
Friday’s FEI Nations Cup. Such was the smoothness of their success that Beerbaum and his mare didn’t need to return to the ring for a second time that afternoon because his colleagues had already sealed the result. So Gotha was a fresh horse coming out again today, and she gave her all in the race against the clock to beat Ahlmann’s target-time by more than a second.

PLENTY TOUGH ENOUGH

Uliano Vezzani’s 13-fence first-round course proved plenty tough enough, with the grey poles at the vertical at fence three once again claiming a number of victims as they did on Nations Cup day. But it was the triple combination at fence nine, and the penultimate delicate planks, that were the bogey fences.

All four British starters went into the second round over a new eight-fence track, and this time the Italian course designer’s questions were all about control, speed and turning skills. The right-handed roll-backs after the double at fence four to the vertical at five, and from the oxer at six to the penultimate vertical at fence seven, were pivotal in every sense.

The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Exquis Walnut de Muze led the way against the clock with a four-fault result in 45.30 seconds, but the host country’s Natale Chiaudani followed with a crowd-pleasing clear from Fix Design Almero. Their time of 48.31 seconds would never be quick enough however as, two horses later, Germany’s Marco Kutscher showed when bringing the graceful grey, Cornet Obolensky, through the timers in 45.59 to re-set the target.

PUT THEMSELVES ON THE MAP

Switzerland’s Simone Wettstein and Clipmyhorse Cash and Go really put themselves on the map this week with a great
performance in the FEI Nations Cup, and jumped clear once again but were no threat when breaking the beam in 50.54
seconds. Dutchman, Jur Vrieling, however was just short of Kutscher’s target time with a great round from VDL Bubalou,
but the German still had the whip hand when Tina Fletcher and Hello Sailor went clear but slow, fellow-Briton Peter Charles had two fences down with Murka’s Vindicat and Switzerland’s Janika Sprunger and Palloubet D’Halong squeezed in ahead of Vrieling with another courageous round that stopped the clock on 45.67.

With just four more left to go, it was Frenchman Mac Dilasser who changed the order as he galloped though the finish in 45.10 seconds to throw down the gauntlet to the remaining three. Christian Ahlmann and his 2011 Rolex FEI World Cup winning stallion, Taloubet Z, are no shrinking violets however and they set off at a cracking pace, turning sharply to the penultimate vertical and taking over the lead as they crossed the line in 44.50 seconds.

Beerbaum saw him go – “he was really fast” he said afterwards, but he also pointed out that there is nothing like the
pressure of a late run to get riders fired up about catching the ones that have gone before. “The pressure builds all the way through the jump-off – if you go early you don’t have the same….ooommphh!” he said. He and Gotha certainly found the “ooommphh” they needed, quickly establishing a great, quick rhythm, and clinching it with an extraordinarily tight turn to the second-last before galloping through the beam in 43.10 seconds. When last-man-in, Britain’s William Funnell, faulted at the second fence it was all over.

ANALYSING

Analysing his round afterwards, Beerbaum said he inadvertently jumped “a bit to the right” over the penultimate vertical which allowed him to gallop down to the last on nine strides without having to take a check like most of the other riders. “In the end”, he said, “you need the luck, and it seems today was my day!”.

Asked about his plans now ahead of the Olympic Games, he pointed out that, despite the fact that his Chef d’Equipe, Otto Becker, brought this top team to Rome with the intention of assessing them for Olympic selection, things are undecided. “We have at least two top teams in Germany right now that we could send to London – at home we have Carsten-Otto Nagel, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Philip Weishaupt, Rene Tebbel and Janne Frederike Meyer – and we all have to do Nations Cup to get a clear picture of who should go to the Games, taking into account the age and experience of the horses and riders. I’d like to jump Gotha less but the selection committee will probably want to see a bit more. Next week we have the German Championships and I will be there – the whole thing is still a little bit open” he insisted.

In fact the German Federation has a special agreement with the IOC to name their selection on the Monday evening after CHIO Aachen concludes on July 9 – “that’s going to be a long and stormy night!” Beerbaum said with a big grin this evening.

For now however, it is time to celebrate as he places his name on the Rome Grand Prix Roll of Honour which includes so
many of the greats of his own country and others. “I’ve always wanted to win this one. It’s a great honour, and I’m very proud” he said.