GCL Vienna: Prague Lions win ahead of Riesenbeck International and Valkenswaard United

Exciting comeback by Christian Kukuk and Philipp Weishaupt

The Prague Lions team secured a large prize money and 30 important points for the interim classification at the 13th stage of the international show jumping series, the Global Champions League. Once again, the organizers chose a breathtaking backdrop. In front of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the Lions (Fernando Martinez Sommer and Pieter Devos) won ahead of Riesenbeck International (Christian Kukuk and Philipp Weishaupt) and Valkenswaard United (Marcus Ehning and Hans-Dieter Dreher).

The first round, a 1.55-meter course, took place in the afternoon under adverse, cool, autumnal conditions, already under floodlights. Here, German course designer Peter Schumacher and his team created an appealing and at the same time challenging course in the midst of the beautiful palace ambience.

Among the 17 teams, four remained faultless in the first round, including the German ladies of Cannes Stars, Katrin Eckermann and Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann. Marcus Ehning and Hans-Dieter Dreher of Valkenswaard United, who were leading in the interim standings, had one fault with Ehning's Priam du Roset.

Team Riesenbeck International started with Christian Kukuk. With his eighth appearance in the GCL team series, the Olympic champion is one of the most prolific riders. He put in a very nice round with the ten-year-old Chacco-Blue son Chageorge in the early rain. The stallion touched the oxer, which was underlaid with water basins, once – and the bar, which was lying flat on the supports, fell to the ground. Team mate Philipp Weishaupt then made it look easy and rhythmic on his eleven-year-old stallion Oreo D.R., a son of Kannan. But this pair also made a mistake. The task now was to catch up in round two, in tenth place.

In this decisive round, a newly designed 1.60-meter course, the heavy rain was another obstacle for the remaining participants after two teams had been eliminated. Riesenbeck International did not make any changes to horses or riders. With two flawless and very fast clear rounds, experienced championship riders Christian Kukuk and Philipp Weishaupt managed to secure a good starting position for the chase. And they succeeded brilliantly, closing the gap on the leaders. Only the Prague Lions managed to remain faultless once again. This meant that victory was theirs. With the fastest time in the second round, the Riesenbeck team managed to jump onto the podium for the third time in a row.

Christian Kukuk ventured a prediction ahead of the next GCL stages when asked about the narrowing gap in the interim standings (5th place): “That sounds good, the third podium in a row, we haven't had that in a long time. We've worked very hard for it, and I feel like we're on the right track now... everyone else needs to watch out!”