“The entry result is a good indicator that the STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS is the absolute top-class indoor event!” Gotthilf Riexinger is proud that he is able to present a large number of top riders and world-class drivers – most of them will also start with their best horses – to the equestrian sports fans at the 23rd edition of the international STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS show which will be held in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle from the 14th to the 18th of November. And this star parade with the Crème de la Crème of equestrian sports is very appreciated by the spectators: “Until now, we have sold more than 45.000 entry tickets, which is a better result than at the same time last year”, Andreas Kroll, the general manager of the in.Stuttgart event organization, said happily. In the five disciplines show-jumping, dressage, driving, eventing and vaulting, more than 150 sportswomen and men from 24 nations with nearly 340 horses will participate in the show.“Stuttgart is the absolute top-class indoor event”
“The entry result is a good indicator that the STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS is the absolute top-class indoor event!” Gotthilf Riexinger is proud that he is able to present a large number of top riders and world-class drivers – most of them will also start with their best horses – to the equestrian sports fans at the 23rd edition of the international STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS show which will be held in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle from the 14th to the 18th of November. And this star parade with the Crème de la Crème of equestrian sports is very appreciated by the spectators: “Until now, we have sold more than 45.000 entry tickets, which is a better result than at the same time last year”, Andreas Kroll, the general manager of the in.Stuttgart event organization, said happily. In the five disciplines show-jumping, dressage, driving, eventing and vaulting, more than 150 sportswomen and men from 24 nations with nearly 340 horses will participate in the show.
The participants who have submitted their entries, have won 22 medals in total at the last Olympic Games 2004 in Athens, the World Equestrian Games 2006 in Aachen and the European Championships in Mannheim (show-jumping) and La Mandria (dressage) this year.
Jos Lansink (Belgium), the current world champion, and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Thedinghausen), the recent European champion, who is also the first of the world ranking, form the top of the show-jumping entry list. With Jeroen Dubbeldam, the Olympic winner, Albert Zoer, Gerco Schröder and Vincent Voorn, the Netherlands will send the entire EC team which also became the team world champion in Aachen last year. Apart from Michaels-Beerbaum, the native American who got the German citizenship in 1998, Kurt Gravemeier (Sendenhorst), the German federal coach, has nominated Ludger Beerbaum (Riesenbeck), the multiple Olympic winner, world and European champion, Christian Ahlmann (Marl) and Marco Kutscher (Riesenbeck), the double European champions in 2003 and 2005 or Marcus Ehning (Borken), the team Olympic and team European winner.
Furthermore, Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst (Mühlen) Heinrich Hermann Engemann (Bissendorf), the German champion of the professional riders, Tim Rieskamp-Gödeking (Maichingen) or Franke Sloothaak (Borgholzhausen), the public’s darling, will represent Germany. Armin Schäfer (Mannheim) and Alexander Schill (Ichenheim) from Baden-Württemberg also received the start permission for the big Tour. John Whitaker, the “rider legend” will participate for Great Britain, Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, who won team silver in Athens, will again be sent from Sweden.
The dressage list will be headed by Isabell Werth (Rheinberg), the “dressage queen” and multiple Olympic winner, world and European champion. Heike Kemmer (Winsen/Aller), Nadine Capellmann (Würselen) and Monica Theodorescu (Sassenberg-Füchtdorf) have also won gold medals at Olympic Games, world and European championships In the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, the Germans have to deal with strong competitors: Courtney King from the USA, Silvia Iklé (Switzerland), the Briton Emma Hindle, Victoria Max-Theurer (Austria), or the Portuguese Miguel Duarte – they all want to make it very difficult for the hosts. Tinne Vilhelmsson from Schweden won the bronze medal with the team at the EC, where Alexandra Korelova (Russia) also achieved an impressing sixth position in the freestyle.
Four-in-hand driving from Hungary, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany
The participants of the four-in-hand class are of exquisite quality: Ysbrand Chardon (the Netherlands), Boyd Exell (Australia), Werner Ulrich, the Swiss and the two Hungarians Jozsef Dobrovitz and Zoltan Lazar will meet Christoph Sandmann (Lähden), the team world champion and the only 17-year Michael Brauchle (Lauchheim), the carriage driving shooting star of the past months. Frank Ostholt (Vornholz), the team world champion, will head the eventing class on Wednesday evening.
“This entry list clearly underlines the importance of the show”, said Andreas Kroll. And for Gotthilf Riexinger, it is obvious: “The STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS show heralds the indoor season and – of course – the preparations for the Olympics 2008 in China“. These facts explain the attraction of the equestrian sports highlight in the capital of Baden-Württemberg, which will be a stage of the ROLEX FEI World Cup JumpingTM for the third time and the host for the FEI World Cup DrivingTM, the SCHENKER GERMAN MASTER, for the sixth time. Furthermore, the total remuneration of more than 500.000 Euro is very attractive – including the three Mercedes cars for the winners of the MercedesCard Jump and Drive on Wednesday, the MERCEDES GERMAN MASTER on Friday and the ROLEX FEI World Cup JumpingTM in the Großer Preis von Stuttgart – presented by Mercedes-Benz, Allianz and the BW-Bank – on Sunday. On Thursday, the day of the “locals from Baden-Württemberg”, the finals of the BW-Bank indoor championship and the iWEST dressage cup will be the crowd pullers. For these finals, the 26 best female and male show-jumpers as well as the ten best female and male dressage riders qualified in four qualifiers in the summer.
STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS on TV
The world’s best indoor show also receives a great response as far as the media are concerned. The requests are not only forwarded from German TV stations, but also from Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, Great Britain or France. The “STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS are also well represented on TV”, said Andreas Kroll happily.
ZDF (public German channel) will transmit the decision in the Grand Prix live in “Sport extra” on Sunday from 4:00-5:00 p.m. The Südwestrundfunk will show sections from the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in “Sport am Samstag” (Sports on Saturday) from 5:00-6:00 p.m. as well as in “Sport am Montag” (Sports on Monday) from 6:15-6:45 p.m.
The SWR will transmit “Best of STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS” with the focus on the dressage Grand Prix Special about the KAMPMANN GERMAN MASTER on Sunday from 12-12:30 p.m. Furthermore, Isabell Werth will be a studio guest in the “Landesschau” on Thursday. Shorts reports are also planned in “Baden-Württemberg aktuell” of the SWR on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
