Stuttgart – Home win for the local hero: Mario Walter from nearby Killingen slalomed his way to victory at the 30th International STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS Horse Show in front of a sell-out 8,000 crowd in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle on Wednesday evening. Second to go in the Jump and Drive for the Prize of the in.Stuttgart Veranstaltungsgesellschaft, the German left the international field trailing on his 12-year old mare Quita de la Rosa and behind the steering wheel. A combined jumping and driving competition, “Super-Mario” crossed the line without any penalty points in a time of 96,60 seconds. The delighted winner was rewarded with a Mercedes-Benz A 180.
Frenchman Julien Epaillard, the 2012 winner, was quicker than Mario Walter on 93.23 seconds but incurred two faults (four penalty points) in the saddle on Sell-Francais-Wallachs Pigmalion du Rozel (11) to leave him with an overall time of 97.23 seconds. Behind him in third was “Gold-Michi” Michael Jung from local Horb am Neckar. The double Olympic Champion, a multiple World and European Champion, missed out on winning a hat-trick of titles due to a total of four faults (eight penalty points). After winning in 2011 and 2013, the eventing star from the Black Forest this time finished back in third despite recording the fastest time of all the competitors (92.87) on Captain Sparrow, a seven-year old Holstein gelding.
