It was the same this year too. After going clear in the first round, six riders (one woman - Elena-Malin - and five men - Tim Hoster, Benjamin Wulschner, Alexander Schill, Hans-Dieter Dreher, Armin Schäfer) qualified for the jump-off. In the end, it was the Nations League rider Hans-Dieter Dreher that triumphed – his second win of the day – in front of 7,000 thrilled equestrian fans. Saddled on the nine-year-old mare T Forpleasure du Moulin, the 52-year-old stopped the clock in the jump-off in 37.39 seconds. He bettered the 40.08 seconds posted by Benjamin Wulschner on his nine-year-old Holstein gelding Bayado. Third was Alexander Schill, the 2006 BW-Bank champion in the saddle on Exclusive, a Dutch-bred gelding (4/39.34). Of all things, it was wall of the BW-Bank title sponsor that proved to be his undoing.
The winner of the BW-Bank championship was overjoyed when interviewed in the arena saying, “I’m over the moon. I’ve been striving for years now to win the BW Cup. My little treasure Forpleasure du Moulin made it easy for me and it was a lot of fun. I never thought she could go so fast.”
Norvin Graf Leutrum von Ertingen, the BW-Bank CEO, stressed: “Baden-Württemberg and its riders are our impetus. We want to support them. I love this great sport – hats off, Hansi Dreher!“
Only the best 26 riders (Benjamin Wulschner and Jochen Teufel tied for 25th place) had previously qualified at four horse shows in summer for the final in Stuttgart.
During the day, 2,100 spectators were in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle for the the Prize of Bardusch and the final of the iWEST Dressage Cup.
