| Christian Kukuk and Maximilian Weishaupt secure podium place for Riesenbeck International at home show
Istanbul Warriors celebrate second victory of the season at the Global Champions League in Riesenbeck
Simone Delestre with Golden Boy DK and Henrik von Eckermann on Steely Dan led the Istanbul Warriors powered by Carpe Diem Equestrian Team to their second victory of the season. Riesenbeck International powered by Horse Gym jumped to silver to the delight of the home fans, earning crucial points in the 11th stage of the Global Champions League. The Prague Lions powered by Czech Equestrian Team took third place.
The numerous equestrian fans who lined the Riesenbeck grass stadium and cheered enthusiastically were treated to an afternoon full of surprising twists, dramatic moments, and, above all, world-class talent. The Global Champions League team competition took center stage today at the 11th of 16 stops in the 2025 championship season. Sixteen teams competed against each other in two decisive rounds. The course design team had set the participants a number of challenges, with the first round course proving particularly tough. In total, only eight riders remained faultless and only two teams came home with four penalty points each — Katrin Eckermann and Janne Friederike Meyer Zimmermann for Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames, and Marcus Ehning and Hans Dieter Dreher for Valkenswaard United. The home team from Riesenbeck International powered by Horse Gym scored eight points, with Christian Kukuk and Emanuele Camilli each having an unfortunate knockdown.
However, the second round turned out completely differently, as many teams were able to complete the new 1.60-meter course with a double clear round. This included the riders from Riesenbeck International. Maximilian Weishaupt and the 9-year-old Kokomo B by Kannan replaced Emanuele Camilli and Chacco's Girlstar in the second round and brought the team back into contention with their flawless round. Christian Kukuk once again relied on the 10-year-old Chacco-Blue son Chageorge and, with a clear round, secured Riesenbeck International not only a well-deserved podium place at their home tournament but also important 25 points for the team ranking. This allowed the team to improve from sixth to fifth place.
“In the second round, I rode a little more consistently from the start, and that paid off in the end. But basically, I have to say that my horse jumped superbly. Max delivered a strong performance with his young horse. That wasn't the plan at the beginning; he jumped in, but then did an incredible job,” Christian Kukuk revealed afterwards. The Paris Olympic champion was particularly pleased to be able to give something back to the home crowd today: "For me, that's always more of an incentive than pressure. I know that if it goes wrong, no one will be angry with me. But of course it's even better when we have something to celebrate!"
Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) was delighted with the triumph at his former workplace and admitted that the Istanbul Warriors' team strategy had not always worked out recently: "Maybe we had the wrong riders, but this time it worked out and it's very nice to win in my old home country. This course is a bit tricky, but both courses were superbly designed, it wasn't impossible to jump and the mistakes were very evenly distributed. My horse is only nine years old, he doesn't really know it yet, so I'm very proud of him. That makes me look forward to the future." With the maximum score of 30 points, the Istanbul Warriors moved up three places in the rankings.
In the overall standings, the ranking of the top four places remains unchanged: Valkenswaard United remains unchallenged at the top with 231 points. Behind them are the Shanghai Swans (218) and the Cannes Stars powered by Iron Dames (217), who secured further points today with a seventh and fourth place respectively and are only one point apart. The next stage will take place next week in New York, USA.
