“Now I know the difference between winning and coming second”

The Allianz-Prize was the highlight in the Main Stadium at the Aachen Soers on Saturday. After a dream round, Richard Vogel triumphed and left yesterday’s winner, Jana Wargers, lying in second place. Third place went to France again.

Anyone, who thought Jana Wargers and her Oldenburg-bred mare Chacco’s Lady were fast in the winning round of the Allianz-Prize, a 1.55-metre jumping competition, was astounded by the subsequent performance of Richard Vogel and Cepano Baloubet. That was super-fast!

Jana Wargers and her Chacco-Blue daughter, delivered a wonderfully fluent, clear round, the clock stopped at 42.16 seconds. But Richard Vogel and his just nine-year-old Chaman son sped round the ring, making it look like the pairs before him had been taking their time. He found the ideal take-off for every obstacle and in the turn that proved to be the “decisive element” of the winning round, they demonstrated why jumping horses have to be totally balanced and on their haunches. It was almost a pirouette – out of which Cepano Baloubet developed explosive impulsion to master the mighty Rolex obstacle. Vogel explained that “the tight turn was a mixture between a lot of things for sure. I spend half of the winter season in America and watch their skills and pick up a lot of tricks, riding in GER is more focussed on the dressage and combining this helps too. But my horse always searches for the fences, so that helps. Good rideability of the horses is very important and Capano also wants to get there and be quick.“

The clock stopped at 38.87 seconds. There was one pair to go, who are also well-known for their fast rounds. Philipp Weishaupt and Coby. They actually did achieve in topping Vogel’s time, but the take-off to the last obstacle didn’t quite fit and the rail fell, Richard Vogel had won. What it feels like to notch up his first big victory in Aachen, after winning the German U25 Trophy here three times in a row? “Now I know the difference between claiming a victory and coming second!”

He was referring to his placing in the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia yesterday, when he finished second behind Jana Wargers – which one must say he had been delighted about. “But coming first is a bit different…”

Like yesterday, third place went to France, albeit not to Kevin Staut, but instead to Marc Dilasser and Arioto du Gevres. With a time of 42.30 seconds the pair were slightly slower than Wargers and Chacco’s Lady. For Dilasser being placed wasn’t the decisive aspect: “The biggest problem was that I still have a star on my thigh after my fall at the last obstacle in the Nations’ Cup. So, I am overjoyed with our result today!”

Anyone, who watched the Allianz-Prize today, is probably asking himself, how Marc Houtzager’s Holy Moley is. The eleven-year-old gelding came to a halt after jumping over the last fence. Houtzager jumped off immediately and realised that Holy Moley couldn’t put any weight on his leg. He received medical treatment straight away. The horse has a soft tissue lesion that is being treated and the horse is in good shape.