Dutch victory in the WOTAX-Prize, the Intermédiaire I on Saturday evening. The World Championships bronze medallist, Dinja van Liere, presented her aspiring youngstar, Mauro Turfhorst, in whom she places big hopes for the future. Today, he collected his first gold rosette at the CHIO Aachen.

Dinja van Liere won the Intermédiaire I, the WOTAX-Prize with the just eight-year-old KWPN-bred stallion, Mauro Turfhorst by Zonik on a score of 75.294 percent. Van Liere’s eyes were sparkling when she began to rave about her four-legged sports partner, whom she has been schooling since he was a three-year-old and whom she came fourth with at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses, as a six and seven-year-old. “You want me to tell you something about Mauro? That could take a while!” she joked. “I am a huge fan of his. The feeling he gives me when I am sitting in the saddle, is so light and easy. It is simply fun to ride him. All I have to do is remember the test. He does the rest: “He is going to be a super, superstar!”

The pair that came second in the Small Tour in Aachen on a score of 73.823 percent has a great deal more experience, they are namely the winners of the Prize of VUV-Vereinigte Unternehmerverbände, the Prix St. Georges, Frederic Wandres and Quizmaster. The 13-year-old Hanoverian-bred gelding proved once again that he is a specialist in the Small Tour in Aachen. He has been competing in the WOTAX-Prize since 2021, has won the class twice and come second two times before and added a further silver rosette to the list today. After his Prix St. Georges victory, he joked as to whether “Quizzie” could perhaps claim a place on the renowned Walk of Fame as the most successful horse of the Small Tour. He certainly deserves it!

Third place went to a World Champion, the 2024 World Champion Young Dressage Horse of the seven-year-olds, Life Time FRH under Charlott-Maria Schürmann. The fact that both Mauro Turfhorst and Schürmann with her eight-year-old Hanoverian-bred stallion by Livaldon competed here in Aachen, lent the competition an extra touch of excitement, because it was the first time that the two of them have taken part in the same class since the World Championships in Ermelo, where Mauro Turfhorst came fourth. Although two judges saw Schürmann and the elegant, dark chestnut stallion clearly in front, this time Life Time had to bow down. The pair was awarded a score of 73.647 percent.