Edited press release from London International Horse Show

The feature class of the day at London International Horse Show was The Longines Christmas Cracker – a 1.55m jump-off competition – featuring seven of the top ten riders in the world as they vied for a piece of the €51,500 prize fund. Bernard Costa Cabral’s challenging course resulted in only seven combinations making it through to the jump-off against the clock. 

First to go, Max Kühner (AUT), set the pace jumping clear in a time of 33.97 seconds aboard Up Too Jacco Blue (Chacco-Blue x Ard VDL Douglas). Gerrit Nieberg (GER), riding Ben (Sylvain x Quincy Jones) – the horse he rode to victory in the coveted Grand Prix of Aachen earlier this year – was faster down to the final vertical to take over the lead, 0.15 seconds quicker than Kühner. Conor Swail (IRL) and Vital Chance de La Roque (Diamant de Semilly x Rivage du Poncel) put up a good challenge for third, but ultimately could not match Nieberg’s performance. 

Nieberg, whose father won The London International Horse Show Grand Prix in 2000, said: “This is my first time at The London International Horse Show, but I will definitely be coming back – it is an amazing feeling to win here, it’s a great show. My horse was incredible, he is feisty so I have to try and keep him calm, but he always wants to keep the fences up.”

Earlier in the day, The Snowflake Stakes was won by Marcus Ehning (GER) riding Calanda (Calido I x Chasseur I). The 1.50m class was run over two rounds, with the top ten from the first round going through to the second round against the clock. Matthew Sampson (GBR) and Django Blue (Chacco-Blue x Grandilot) set the target as first to go in the second round, jumping clear in 34.31 seconds, however his lead was quickly usurped by Jos Verlooy (BEL) and Varoune (Verdi TN x Cardalme). Those who followed came close, with less than a second separating the leaders, however Germany’s Marcus Ehning took it to a new level, posting a clear in a time of 33.10 seconds with just one rider to go. The final rider to take to the arena, Lorenzo de Luca (ITA) – a notably quick rider – gave it everything to better Ehning’s time, however with four faults at the last fence slipped down to seventh.

The former London International Horse Show Grand Prix winner said: “I was very happy with my round today, all the people cheering me on always gives me huge motivation to push further and get the win. The crowd is amazing, the show is amazing, they do a great job here and I’m so happy to be here.”