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Willem Greve and Highway TN N.O.P. lead the way in Leipzig

Sunday, 19 January 2025
CSI5*-W Partner Pferd Leipzig 2025

Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster. “I am just so honoured to be able to ride such a super-star from Team Nijhof,” Willem Greve said after winning the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ of Leipzig with Highway TN N.O.P. Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster.

 

Text © World of Showjumping

 


 

Willem Greve and the 13-year-old Highway TN N.O.P. (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Chellano) stole the show in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League at Partner Pferd Leipzig in Germany – the 11th leg of the 2024/2025 WEL-season – taking the first World Cup victory of their career.  

“I am just so honoured to be able to ride such a super-star from Team Nijhof,” Greve said in awe of Highway TN, a stallion he has produced himself from a youngster.

Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster. “I am thrilled and can hardly believe it, my first World Cup win ever,” Greve said. Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster.

Thirteen horse-and-rider combinations – six of them flying the flag for the hosts – cleared their way into the deciding jump-off, where the Mechelen-winner Hans-Dieter Dreher on Elysium (VDL Zirocco Blue x Coronado) took an early lead with a time of 41.55 seconds.

Shaving a second off on Dreher’s leading time, Greve and Highway TN N.O.P. set a new standard with their time of 40.52 seconds – a target that those to come could not match. France’s former world number one Simon Delestre and Dexter Fontenis Z (Diarado x Voltaire Pref) were the last to give it a go, slotting into second when crossing the finish line in 41.21 seconds, pushing Dreher to third, Zascha Nygaard Lill (DEN) and Noah de Kalvarie (Ustinov x Almox Prints) to fourth and Martin Fuchs (SUI) aboard Conner Jei (Connor x Cosimo) to fifth.

“I am thrilled and can hardly believe it, my first World Cup win ever,” Greve said afterwards. “I am very happy for my horse. Highway is an extreme fighter. I had a good start to number one – in Mechelen I started a bit too slow – but now he knew straight away it was game. And then actually I just have to follow him and point to the fences, he is searching for the first distance – he is a freak of a horse.”

Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster. "The first three is always something, I am really happy with that," Simon Delestre said after placing second. Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster.

“I feel good, a bit sad with being so close to winning, but with thirteen in the jump-off it is always just in between; with one down, you can drop down very quick,” the second placed Delestre said. “The first three is always something, I am really happy with that. With Dexter, this was his third Grand Prix in a row where he is again on the podium, so I can really be happy and proud of him. I know Dexter is very fast on the ground, I can do the same number of strides as the others without any problems, so I tried to stay fast but not stupid fast. It is also important to catch some points.”

“I am third, but I am really, really happy with Elysium,” Dreher commented. “He had two super rounds and today I think it was our fastest jump-off together – he made a super job. Now I am definitely qualified, and we have to make a plan towards the finals.”

Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster. “I am third, but I am really, really happy with Elysium,” Dreher commented. Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster.

With eleven of fourteen legs in the Western European League 2024/2025-season now completed, the series continues in Amsterdam (NED) next week before stopping in Bordeaux (FRA) and Gothenburg (SWE) prior to returning to Basel for the final in April. 

After the 11th leg of the season, Kevin Staut (FRA) remains in the lead in the Western European League, topping the overall standings with 70 points. Hans-Dieter Dreher (GER) has climbed to second with his 66 points, while Robert Whitaker (GBR) sits third with 60, Gregory Wathelet (BEL) fourth with 56 and Pieter Devos (BEL) fifth with 47 points.

The top sixteen horse-and-rider combinations at each of the fourteen qualifiers earn points, with the best eighteen from the overall standings in the WEL qualifying for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final held in Basel, Switzerland, in April 2025. 

 



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