International

Riders hugging each other, owners with tears in their eyes and a Course Designer that would have preferably taken his leave from Aachen without any fuss. But a few other people had a word to say in the matter. The summary of a very special SAP-Cup at the CHIO Aachen 2024. 

The Olympic gold medallist Julia Krajewski and her newcomer Nickel are the winners of the SAP-Cup 2024 on a score of 30.3 minus points. Second place went to the U25 aspiring eventing star, Calvin Böckmann with The Phantom Of The Opera. The latter ended the competition on their dressage result of 30.9 minus points. Prior to the class, EQuiRatings powered by SAP had published the statistics that in the scope of 420 eventing results over the past years only 20 pairs have ever finished the entire competition on their dressage score. A further two pairs joined this list today, in addition to Calvin, the Australian eventer, Christopher Burton with Clever Louis, who ultimately secured themselves fourth place. As the best rider on the British team, Laura Collett with Dacapo, slipped into third place between the two German riders and the stylistic rider from Down Under.

The team from Great Britain won the Nations’ Cup, the SAP-Cup, on a total score of 112.8 minus points, asserting themselves against the representatives of the partner country, the USA (123.7) ahead of the Irish team (138.0). Fourth place went to the German team (147.5).

The fact that the Brits were victorious in the Nations’ Cup – incidentally for the fourth time after 2011, 2021 and 2022 – is not actually surprising. The motherland of eventing is always good for a victory. The outcome of the individual classification was more of a surprise. To be fair one must say that with the Olympic Games in mind three German pairs – Michael Jung with Chipmunk, who were in the lead after the dressage and show jumping, the second runner-up in the interim results Christoph Wahler and the winner in 2022, Sandra Auffarth with Viamant du Matz – didn’t even try to hold their positions. Michael Jung didn’t ride cross country. Sandra Auffarth and Christoph Wahler both retired on course.

Julia Krajewski and the ten-year-old Holstein-bred Numero Uno son, Nickel, set off on track in the lead, after Michael Jung and Chipmunk had withdrawn. They delivered a solid round, picking up just 6.4 time faults and were able to hold on to first place. However, they were already the eighth pair to go, so Krajewski had to wait a good two hours before she knew the outcome with many strong pairs to follow. She was, however, satisfied, above all with Nickel: “I think he is definitely a horse that can win in Aachen. If not this year, another year,” stated Krajewski. She said Nickel was a “pal”, who “always tried to solve the tasks set.” Later she reported that she had walked past the Tower earlier in the day and took a photo of winners’ board and had thought, “how cool it would be to read your name on it again“. Because in 2018 she had ridden Michael Jung’s Chipmunk to victory at the Soers. That her dream came true so quickly did however come as a surprise. “We lost a shoe early on in the cross, the footing was good and the horse is balanced, but I noticed it here and there in the tighter turns, so I didn’t want to override it too much, I wanted to bring him home as safe as possible. I thought losing a few seconds here and there might have cost me the win,“ she said after her ride.

The tension rose as the number of run-outs increased during the morning and Krajewski and Böckmann kept creeping further and further forward in the ranking. And when Emily King with Valmy Biats, who had currently been lying in first place, made it home safe and sound, but had picked up 4.8 in time faults, and it became clear that Krajewski had won and Böckmann was second, there was no holding them back at the finish area of the SAP-Cups 2024. The two of them hugged each other and were congratulated by a queue of well-wishers, including Nickel’s owner, tears of joy running down his face.

Krajewski: “Winning in Aachen is, of course, always very, very special. It is almost like a championships. But there is so much between hoping to win and actually winning. I wasn’t predicted to win, which makes it all the better when it is a surprise. I still can’t really believe that it actually happened.”

Questioned as to how he managed to stay in the time, Calvin Böckmann, answered, “I think my horse and I have grown together incredibly over the last two and a half years. We were in America at the beginning of the year (at the CCI5*-L in Kentucky) for our first five* competition and I think that has simply bonded us even closer together. I trust him totally and he trusts me. That simply makes it possible to take the first distance and cut turns and that went in our favour.” At the time he didn’t even imagine he would come second in Aachen. And he still couldn’t quite believe: “I called all my friends and they said that is really crazy. It is the most special show in Germany. The atmosphere is incredible!”

Laura Collett, who came third, confirmed that: “Everything here is so special, the atmosphere, the crowds. We don’t get to jump in a stadium like this anywhere else in the world.” Her impression of the course: “It was a go-cart course, one obstacle followed the next. The courses in Aachen are always demanding.”

The man, who has been building the courses in Aachen for years, could have given himself another huge pat on the shoulder today. But because that is not his style, others did it for him. It was the last course that Rüdiger Schwarz has built and the organisers and riders expressed their immense gratitude. Head of Sport at CHIO Aachen, Birgit Rosenberg said: “Rüdiger Schwarz has done such a fantastic job here over the past years and it was always a pleasure to work with him. He always does his very best for the horses and his best for the sport.”

Julia Krajewski, who trained with Rüdiger Schwarz for many years, added: “When we walked the course, some people said the course is softer than usual. But it was built perfectly. We had “missed flags”, “MIMs” and run-outs. One had to ride smartly and use one’s head. Rüdiger has shaped how cross-country is ridden and how cross-country is built.” 

Cover Photo: CHIO Aachen/Hubert Fischer