Stuttgart – The 27th International STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS Horse Show in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle from 16 - 20 November 2011 is presenting a proud line-up of Olympic, World and European Champions. About 180 riders from 26 nations with almost 400 horses have entered the classes in the five disciplines of jumping, dressage, driving, eventing and vaulting. “The overall line-up at the 27th edition of our horse show is the best ever,” said a delighted Andreas Kroll, CEO of the in.Stuttgart Veranstaltungsgesellschaft mbH, when commenting on the immense interest shown by the world’s top horse riders. They will once again turn the so-called “Hallenduo” in Stuttgart’s NeckarPark into the place-to-be for the protagonists and a real “must” for horse lovers. The entry list in jumping is headed by the reigning World Champion Philippe Le Jeune (Belgium) and the newly crowned European Champion Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (Sweden) as well as the members of the squads that won the World and European Team Championships for Germany. Technical Director Hauke Schmidt, who is responsible for signing up the show jumpers, underlined the quality of the entries: “Fifteen of the top 20 in the current world ranking will be saddling up here in Stuttgart. After all, there are World Cup points at stake.” And the four-in-hand drivers will also be battling for coveted World Cup points. The starters will include four reigning World Champions, an ex-World Champion, the German Champion and the local hero Michael Brauchle.
The Olympic silver medal winner in 2008, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, leads the jumping field. Behind him are a whole host of top class riders: world No. 4 Ludger Beerbaum (Germany), 2011 European Team Champion and four-time winner of the Grand Prix in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle, the World Cup leader Beat Mändli (Switzerland/5), the current top ranked lady rider Edwina Alexander-Tops (Australia/6), followed by the French 2009 European Champion Kevin Staut (7), the Irish duo of Denis Lynch (8) and Billy Twomey (9) and the Frenchman Simon Delestre (10). Further down the Rolex World Rankings are the 2008 Olympic Team Champion, Beezie Madden (USA/11), the World Cup winner Christian Ahlmann (Germany/12), Michael Whitacker (Great Britain/14), Portugal’s Brazilian-born Luciana Diniz (15), European Team Champion Marco Kutscher (Germany/18), World Team Champion Marcus Ehning (Germany/19) and the Spaniard Sergio Alvarez Moya (20).
However the list also includes many more famous top riders like for example World Champion Philippe Le Jeune (Belgium), Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Germany), last year’s World Team Champion and winner of the MERCEDES GERMAN MASTER, as well as the two World and European Team Champions Janne-Friedericke Meyer and Carsten Otto Nagel (both Germany). The latter triumphed in the Grand Prix of Stuttgart in 2010. Patrice Delaveau (France) won the MERCEDES GERMAN MASTER in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Hall in 2009, the double Olympic Team Champion Lars Nieberg (Germany) and the 2009 European Team Champion in Windsor, Steve Guerdat (Switzerland), will also be in the saddle in Stuttgart.
Dressage: tough competition and farewell to Satchmo
Illustrious names adorn the dressage entry list where the top German stars will be up against strong opposition from abroad. First and foremost there is the German-born Briton, Laura Bechtolsheimer, who won the silver medal with the British team at the 2009 European Championships in Windsor and then placed third in the Grand Prix Special. In 2010, she took silver in Lexington in both the individual (Grand Prix Special and freestyle) and the team events. In 2009, Bechtolsheimer won the GERMAN MASTER in Stuttgart. Beatriz Ferrer-Salat (Spain) secured top spot in the freestyle at the 2004 STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS and won Olympic team silver and individual bronze in Athens in 2004. She also secured a team bronze medal and individual silver at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez de la Frontera. The Austrian Victoria Max-Theurer came fifth at the 2009 European Championships in Windsor whilst the Italian Valentina Truppa, who rides in the Carabineri uniform, triumphed in the Grand Prix Special and the freestyle at the World Cup show in Lipica (Slovenia) in May.
“Dressage Queen” Isabell Werth (Germany) is the leading German rider. The five-time Olympic Champion, six-time World and 13-time European Champion placed first in Stuttgart last year in the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and in the freestyle. Her name has been inscribed eight times on the GERMAN MASTER Grand Prix Special roll of honour and Isabell Werth was successful six times in the freestyle. On Saturday 19 November, there will be a retirement ceremony in the evening session for her 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding Satchmo. It will undoubtedly be a highly emotional moment for everybody present. “After all, we won the GERMAN MASTER three times in a row here between 2006 and 2008. And Stuttgart has a good tradition of giving great dressage horses a wonderful send-off,” said the Olympic Champion when explaining her decision.
Other German competitors are the three-time Olympic Champion Monica Theodorescu who also won one World Championships gold medal and two European Championships golds. Nadine Capellmann has amassed two Olympic gold medals, four World Championship titles and three European Championship wins. Two golds respectively at the Olympic Games and World Championships is Ulla Salzgeber’s tally. She additionally won six European Championship titles. Hubertus Schmid was a member of the gold medal winning team at the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the European Championships. Anabel Balkenhol was in the German team that won bronze at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington.
Four reigning World Champions in their carriages at the Driving World Cup
Experts are licking their lips and the fans will once again be on the edge of their seats for sheer excitement: four reigning World Champions will take up the reins for the FEI World Cup DrivingTM. Having won the DB SCHENKER GERMAN MASTER in 2009 and 2010, the Australian Boyd Exell will be looking to win the competition for the third time in succession. However it something the Dutch World Team Champions Ijsbrand Chardon, Koos de Ronde and Theo Timmermann will trying to prevent. The former World Champion Zoltan Lazar (Hungary), the German Champion Georg von Stein, who last year placed third with the German team at the World Championships and who is competing for the first time in Stuttgart, and the local hero Michael Brauchle will all have their work cut out to stay in touch with the world’s top drivers. The 21-year-old Michael Brauchle, who won the 2010 state championship and who came second with the German team at the 2006 World Championships and second at the 2011 European Championships, always thrills the crowds with his flat-out driving style.
Horse show director Gotthilf Riexinger attested the Indoor Derby for the Prize of the Firma Peter Hahn as having a “real world class field”. First and foremost there is obviously Michael Jung, the first German World Cup winner (2009) and the first German individual World Champion (2010) in eventing. “Gold Jung” from nearby Horb also made his mark at the European Championships in Luhmülen when winning both the individual and team events. He has already won Wednesday evening’s Indoor Derby on five occasions at the STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) and will this year be trying to make it half a dozen wins. One year ago, he also impressively underlined his versatility by winning, in addition to the Indoor Derby, a speed jumping class against all the world’s best riders and two dressage competitions (including the final of the iWEST-Cup).
