"He is only nine, and what he did today makes me very happy," Christian Kukuk told WoSJ after Chageorge won the CSI5* 1.55m Prix des Communes Genevoises at CHI Geneva. All photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.
Text © World of Showjumping
Germany’s Christian Kukuk – the 2024 Olympic Champion – and the 9-year-old Chageorge (Chacco-Blue x Sanvaro) won Friday’s CSI5* 1.55m Prix des Communes Genevoises at the 2024-edition of CHI Geneva.
Crossing the finish line in 64.76 seconds, Kukuk and Chageorge snatched the win from compatriot Daniel Deusser (GER) and Otello de Guldenboom (Tobago Z x Caretino) who had to settle for second after clocking a time of 66.23 seconds.
"Today, I think he showed what he has; he is such an athlete, he is very competitive and has a super mind," Kukuk said about Chageorge.
The course for the second qualifier for Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix counted 13 obstacles and 16 efforts, with the time allowed set to 72 seconds. As pair number eight out, Karl Cook (USA) and Caracole de La Roque (Zandor x Kannan) took the lead with their time of 68.85 seconds and stayed on top of the scoreboard until Deusser and Otello de Guldenboom entered the arena at Palexpo halfway through the class. Taking an inside turn to fence number eleven that no one had done before, Deusser shaved off 2.62 seconds on Cook’s time. However, seven pairs later, Kukuk replicated the former world no. one's move — clocking the winning time with an effortless round.
The last horse-and-rider-combination from the 55 pairs at start, Tiffany Foster (CAN) and Elektrique (Emerald x Voltaire) slotted into third with a time of 67.18, pushing Simon Delestre (FRA) and Dexter Fontenis Z (Diarado x Voltaire Pref) down to fourth in 67.96, while Cook ended fifth.
“It was my plan to do the turn,” Kukuk told World of Showjumping afterwards. “I expected a few more to do it, but no one was really trusting that turn. I saw it with Daniel, and I saw it could go well. I had a good feeling on the course, so I stuck to my plan and tried it – and he did it great.”
Daniel Deusser and Otello de Guldenboom finished second.
“I have had him since he was eight and I have been building him up slowly," Kuku said about Chageorge. "This year, in the summer when we had the Olympics, he just jumped smaller classes and now after Versailles he has been stepping up. I really do believe in him; I have a lot of expectations for the future. Today, I think he showed what he has; he is such an athlete, he is very competitive and has a super mind. He is only nine, and what he did today makes me very happy.”
“When I walked the course, I saw that there was a possibility, but it was not an easy turn with a liverpool behind, and I knew the five strides after would get long,” second placed Deusser explained. “However, I got a good feeling from my horse in the beginning of the course, so I thought now it was time to try. I decided it quite quickly after the triple combination. The course was interesting, not really the most exciting for a speed class with two inside turns that were more or less not easy to do. In the end, it's a way to make the competition not so fast, and today it was more important to jump clear.”
Then