Text © World of Showjumping
Philipp Weishaupt (GER) and Lacasino (Lordanos x Cassini I) took a home win in Thursday’s 1.50m STAWAG Prize at CHIO Aachen. In a class where the clears were few, and came far apart, Weishaupt and the 13-year-old gelding made light work of the challenging course to snatch the win from their compatriots David Will (GER) and Concordia (Colorit x San Patrignano Cassini).
Frank Rothenberger’s twelve-fence track was no walk in the park, and included three combinations, a hedge, and a wall – in other words, plenty of questions to be answered. Out of the 41 horse-and-rider combinations in the class, which went against the clock, eight jumped clear. As Weishaupt entered the ring with Lacasino, it was Will who was in the lead – after setting the time to beat at 70.00 seconds. With an incredibly fast round, Weishaupt managed to bring the time down to 67.78 seconds – and surprised even himself by being this quick.
“I rode Lacasino exactly seven days ago for the first time,” Weishaupt said with a smile. “But he is a very experienced horse who was going with my colleague Christian Kukuk before, as well as Marco Kutscher lately. He is an unbelievable fighter, has super rideability, has all the experience – he is really simple, so it is a pleasure to ride him. I had a super round, and he jumped amazing, so I gave it a shot as I had a couple of fast ones coming behind me – I knew I had to try something. I did not expect to be that fast, but I had a nice rhythm from the beginning to the end and with a horse like this it’s fun!”
“We had a lot of rails in the class, it was a bit tricky towards the end with the two combinations that were difficult to jump – especially the last one with the plank coming into the double of uprights,” Weishaupt explained about the course. “But Lacasino was just a hero today, and I am happy with the result.”
“This show is just outstanding, much better than anything else we have and to win here is always something special – and a bit more so now. After Covid-19, being back here with public feels extra good,” Weishaupt said about CHIO Aachen.
Behind the two German gentlemen followed Lorenzo de Luca (ITA) on Malissa de Muze (Vigo D Arsouilles Stx x For Pleasure) in third place with a time of 70.43 seconds. Fourth place went to Hans-Dieter Dreher (GER) on Vestmalle Des Cotis (Baloubet du Rouet x Landor S), while Martin Fuchs (SUI) and The Sinner (Sanvaro x Landgold 3) finished fifth.
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