On Saturday evening, it was time for the 7- and 8-year-old horses to take centre stage at CHIO Aachen for the Sparkassen Youngster Cup Final – and shining brightest of them all was Lorenzo de Luca’s Naomi van het Keizershof (Cardento x For Pleasure). “I am totally amazed by her quality,” said Lorenzo de Luca after the win.

No less than 19 of the 30 horse-and-rider combinations made it to the jump-off, where the Italian rider was the fastest with the 8-year-old BWP-mare. Stopping the clock at 41.48 seconds, the pair took the win ahead of David Will (GER) and the 7-year-old Bavarian-bred Los Vochos (Los Angeles x Cornet's Stern) that crossed the finish line in 41.79 seconds. Third place went to Kendra Claricia Brinkop (GER) – a colleague of Lorenzo de Luca at Stephex Stables – who with the 8-year-old BWP-gelding Narcos v. Smidshoeve (Toulon x Thunder van de Zuuthoeve) stopped the clock at 42 seconds.

As the best rider overall in the Youngster Cup, Lorenzo de Luca was awarded with a foal – an Oldenburg-bred colt by Cumano Alpha Z.