(mps) All good things come in threes: Timo Beck (Germany) took top place in the final of the BW-Bank Indoor Championship on Thursday evening. Having already won the crown in 2000 and 2002, the 31-year-old triumphed for the third time in the unofficial state indoor championships hosted by the 24th International STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS Horse Show.
Riding his 14-year-old mare Isabell in the highlight, which was watched by a crowd of 6,500 in the well-filled Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle, for Baden Württemberg’s jumpers, Beck raced through the finishing line in a time of 38.01 to record the decisive jump-off’s quickest round. Along with nine others, the duo had previously gone clear around the demanding preliminary course. The BW-Bank Indoor Championship is a great series for us riders in Baden Württemberg,” said the newly crowned champion. “I was trying especially hard today. It’s always something special riding in front of a crowd like that. It’s doubly special when you go on to win as well.” Show Director Gotthilf Riexinger was also highly delighted: “Hats off for the horses and riders. And for the course designers – they’ve fulfilled my targets. I wanted eight riders in the jump-off and it turned out to be nine.” He congratulated Timo Beck on his success saying, “His third win has taken him to the top of the tree.” Beck equalled Ewald Güss’ record of having won the BW-Bank Indoor Championship on three occasions (1986, 1990, 1996). The spokesman of the BW-Bank, Manfred Rube, admitted he had been left breathless whilst watching the jump-off: “You were last to go and you went to the starting line with a cold-bloodedness that earned my complete admiration.” BW-Bank, who has been a sponsoring partner now for 23 years, will continue to support the series in 2009.
Manfred Marschall also went clear on his gelding Vacharco, but needed 39.31 seconds for the jump-off. Third was Günter Treiber, who took 39.39 seconds on his mare Concordia.
