19 August- The FEI European Championships in Aachen has just kicked-off this afternoon with the first class the Turkish Airlines Prize.
The individual leader of the first competition is Penelope Leprevost, that drove her team in second place.
Penelope horse, the stunning mare Flora de Mariposa was one of the first to go into the arena and with a fast clear round became the strong leader of the class till the end of the competition.
Flora de Mariposa was injured at the beginning of this years because she incurred a bone bruise and was unable to attend some competition like the Furusiyya Nations Cup event in La Baule, France. This June Penelope said that she did not exclude the Europeans from her agenda though, so to see the couple winning here was great!
Ludger Beerbaum came close to Penelope's time and together with Chiara 222 (by Contender) he finished in second place driving his team in the first place.
During the press conference, Ludger said that the course suited natural fast horses like Chiara and he is really pleased with the result.
In third place for Great-Britain’s Joe Clee that rode Utamaro d´Ecaussines (by Diamant de Semilly) and drove his team in third place.
Joe during the press conference said that this is his first time in Aachen and he felt a bit the pressure and he added that with the pressure his horse jumped even better.
The course builder Frank Rothenberg said that he is very pleased with the results and he added that tight turns were avoided in order not to have slippery situation after more then 100 horses jumped into the arena.
In this class, the top 5 were completed by: Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet (Conrad de Hus) and Ireland’s Bertram Allen (Molly Malone V).
The lead team national coach Otto Becker, admitted before the start of the FEI European Champion, that he has been a “little nervous” over the past few days, but that he had slept well the night before. “I think all five riders and their horses are in good shape, which was also confirmed during the vet check. Now, I am just waiting to see how the training goes,” commented the national coach. Furthermore, he is relying on the crowd in Aachen to additionally motivate his team, especially during the Mercedes-Benz Prize on Thursday and Friday.
image: F.Petroni