Denis Lynch (IRL) and the 14-year-old stallion Cristello (Numero Uno x Voltaire) took the top honours in Saturday’s CSI5* 1.45m NAB Bliksembeveiliging Prize at The Dutch Masters. “It has been a long time since our last show, so it was fun to ride fast again and I’m very happy with Cristello today,” Lynch said after his win.
A total of 25 horse-and-rider combinations lined up for this class. Eight of them cleared the first round and moved on to the jump-off – where half of them delivered another clear. Lynch and Cristello crossed the finish line in 33.45 seconds, slightly faster than Laura Kraut (USA) with Constable II (Harley x Lupicor) that stopped the clock at 33.58 seconds. Third-placed Rodrigo Giesteira Almeida (POR) with Gb Celine (Cardento x Concorde) was also within 34 seconds when finishing in 33.67.
Fourth place went to Marc Houtzager (NED) with Habitat PB (Dantos x L’Esprit) with a time of 35.04 seconds, ahead of the fastest rider off the jump-off – Jos Verlooy (BEL) with Luciano van het Geinsteinde (Quinn van de Heffinck x Air Jordan), who stopped the clock at 32.12 seconds but on the expense of the last fence down.