Karl Cook and Caracole de La Roque won Sunday's CSIO5* 1.60m Grand Prix of Rotterdam. "It is inspiring," Cook said about riding the exceptional mare. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.
Text © World of Showjumping
"A great day in the office," USA’s Karl Cook said after winning Sunday’s CSIO5* 1.60m Huawei Prize, the Grand Prix of Rotterdam, with the 13-year-old mare Caracole de La Roque (Zandor x Kannan). As the 2025-edition of CHIO Rotterdam concluded in the Netherlands, the 2024 Olympic team silver medallists bested a field of 48 horse-and-rider combinations.
In a jump-off of eight, Cook and Caracole posted the winning time when crossing the finish line in 37.17 seconds – leaving Nina Mallevaey (FRA) and Dynastie de Beaufour (Diamant de Semilly x Cassini II) to the runner-up spot 0.92 seconds behind on the clock. Donald Whitaker (GBR) and Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky x Clearway) completed the podium in third after crossing the timers in 38.78 seconds. Another young Brit followed in fourth, with Sienna Charles and Chawton (Typhoon S x Caletto II) clocking the time of 40.89, while Bas Moerings (NED) on Ipsthar (Denzel vt Meulenhof x Farmer) had to settle for fifth with four penalties in 39.36.
A happy winner! Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.
"I think the course was really interesting," Cook commented on the job of the Belgian course designer Bart Vonck. "Original is a great way to explain it. It was really creative, it tested people from the first fence to the last fence, there was time faults, there was a bunch of clears, we saw a big spectrum of things."
Speaking about his strategy for the jump-off, Cook said: "We had a plan, but with Caracole, she is so fast that you can’t really think much, you kind of just have to ride and hope that you are quick enough to stay with her, because she is going to be faster than you and you just have to keep up as best you can."
"She is really special," Cook said about his Olympic mount Caracole de La Roque. "I have to thank my whole team at Pomponio and my parents who own her, the U.S. team for selecting us for this great show. She is just such a committed horse; whatever she does, she throws her body completely at it. That's what makes her such a great sporthorse; she is fully confident and she only has one speed. It is inspiring."
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