Gregory Wathelet won Saturday's feature class in Frankfurt; the CSI3* 1.50 Helaba Champions Cup. Riding Egano van het Slogenhof (Electro x Nagano), the Belgian rider was one of fourteen riders moving on to the winning round of the competition - eleven were clear, two had a time fault while Wathelet was the fastest of those on four faults securing the last spot. 

As first to go in the winning round, Wathelet put on a boiling pressure with a performance that was spot-on. Opening with the tightest of turns between the two first fences and then from the third jump towards the demanding oxer-oxer combination, Wathelet set the standard and followed up through the rest of the shortened track to stop the clock at 38.40 seconds. 

None of those to come could match Gregory's time. Dutch rider Willem Greve and Carambole (Cassini I x Concerto II) was more than a second behind on 39.84 to take the runner-up position, while Constant van Paesschen went for a steady clear in 41.55 seconds as most of those in front of him had rails down. His tactic paid off, and the Belgian rider secured third place on Calore van de Helle (Casall x Lord). Home rider Holger Wulschner had the final clear in the winning round to take fourth on BSC Skipper (Stolzenberg x Lord Liberty). 

“My horse jumped really well here today”, said the Nations Cup rider Wathelet. “I’ll be riding him on Sunday too.”  The Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG Grand Prix will be on the programme on Sunday. Wathelet has also brought a young horse with him to Frankfurt as the young talents learn so much in the Festhalle. “There are hardly any other tournaments that have such a warm, special atmosphere,” Wathelet said.

Text © World of Showjumping (Source: Press release from Presse PST Marketing GmbH) // Picture © Jenny Abrahamsson