Born nearby, he thus celebrated his first victory in his first ever World Cup. On Thursday, the top-notch local rider won the final of the regional Baden-Württemberg championship. Never before had the BW-Bank victor achieved the double. “I grew up not far away from here. My family, friends and the Stuttgart public supported me the whole week. It’s why I went flat out today,” explained the German show jumper in front of the 6,200 crowd in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle. Over one-and-a-half seconds slower in the jump-off were Denis Lynch from Ireland on the 13-year-old Brooklyn Heights – the same time as Steve Guerdat (36.80), the 2017 Grand Prix of Stuttgart winner, on Dynamix de Belheme. The Swiss finished in second place for sixth time in the final class in Stuttgart.
World Champion Henrik von Eckermann (Sweden) and Iliana, Harrie Smolders (Netherlands) in the saddle on Bingo du Parc and the Frenchman Kevin Staut on Visconti du Telman came fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. The best woman rider was Germany’s Jana Wargers with her highly successful horse Limbridge in seventh.
The Stuttgart public also lived up to its reputation on the final day as the world’s show jumpers were all cheered on frenetically. Steve Guerdat said: “I can only congratulate the organisers. Our sport was given a great stage here. Stuttgart is one of the world’s top horse shows.” A total of 49,400 visitors came along to the five days of this year’s STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS. Next up in the Western European League are the World Cup legs in Madrid (24 to 27 November), La Coruna (2 to 4 December), London (14 to 19 December) and Mechelen (26 to 30 December).
