Good things come to those who wait. And how good! After the interruption due to the weather, the spectators of the Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe experienced thrilling jumping sport with a winner, who demonstrated that he is not the number one in the world rankings in vain.

“A big heart in a small package” is how the US American rider, Kent Farrington, describes his Holsteiner Crunch daughter, Myla, who carried him to victory in the Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe today for the second time in his career. Farrington and the ten-year-old Holsteiner mare were the last pair to go in the jump-off. Up until then Daniel Bluman (ISR) Corbie v.V. headed the field after putting in a speedy round in a time of 38.81 seconds. But a class is never decided until Kent Farrington has completed the course. He once again did justice to his reputation as “Master of faster” and knocked 0.28 seconds off Bluman’s time.

“They are super riders, so it was a challenging task. But I knew exactly what I had to do,” is how Farrington described his strategy before the jump-off: “I trust my horse and her speed, even if I do one stride more, she has a faster footstep.“ And that is how he snatched the victory again today.

Daniel Bluman had to be satisfied with second place with his ten-year-old Zangersheide-bred  Cornet Obolensky daughter, Corby v.V, a situation that left him with mixed feelings: “I am emotionally frustrated. But realistically I have to say that we compete against the best riders in the world here. Of course, I would prefer to be sitting where Kent is, but I am very happy with how my horse jumped. And Aachen is a show that every kid dreams about competing at.”

Third place went to the British show-jumper, Ben Maher with his Selle Français mare, Dallas Vegas Batilly. Here, the clock stopped at 39.65 seconds. Maher was one of the first to go in the jump-off and he wasn’t at all disappointed at only coming third. On the contrary: “I have had a few problems in jump-off lately, I risked too much and Dallas has lost a bit of confidence. Today, I was too slow over the first two jumps and lost a bit of time, but the mare jumped brilliantly, full of confidence. So, it was the best preparation for tomorrow, because she is competing in the Nations Cup for the team.

The best German pair came fourth, namely Richard Vogel and the eleven-year-old Holsteiner stallion, Cloudio v. Casall (0/39,92).

It was a turbulent day that came to a pleasing end. “We knew that the weather would change today,” CHIO Aachen’s Head of Sport, Birgit Rosenberg, reported. “But we didn’t think it was going to be that bad. But we were actually lucky. And I am glad that we were able to end the day with such a fantastic class.”