News
Ahlmann makes it a hat-trick at Mechelen
Dec 31, 2015
Germany’s Christian Ahlmann galloped to his third victory of the season at the eighth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 Western European League at Mechelen in Belgium today. The competition came down to a 10-way decider against the clock, and, third-last into the arena, the 40-year-old rider and his brilliant 15-year-old stallion Taloubet Z produced another of their trademark thrillers to seal the result in style.
On a day when the focus was otherwise on all things Belgian however, home riders filled three of the top four placings and five of the top ten slots. Niels Bruynseels threw down an extraordinary jump-off performance with the nine-year-old Cas de Liberte to claim runner-up position, while Jerome Guery lined up third with Papillon Z. And fourth-placed Jos Verlooy has rocketed up to second spot in the Western European League standings after finishing fourth this evening with his nine-year-old gelding, Sunshine.
With 77 points now to his credit, Ahlmann has a 26-point lead over Frenchman Simon Delestre at the top of the series leaderboard with just three qualifying legs left to run. So along with Verlooy, Penelope Leprevost from France and young Belgian star Nicola Philippaerts, the 2011 FEI World Cup™ Jumping champion is well-qualified for the 2016 Longines Final which will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden in March.
1 TALOUBET Z GALOUBET A BEL41874 KWPN Christian AHLMANN GER 0/0/39.22 58.745 €
2 CAS DE LIBERTE CRACKY Z 103JH94 ZANG Niels BRUYNSEELS BEL 0/0/39.37 35.603 €
3 PAPILLON Z PERHAPS BEL41125 ZANG Jérôme GUERY BEL 0/0/40.57 26.702 €
4 SUNSHINE DIAMANT DE SEMILLY 103LL67 BWP Jos VERLOOY BEL 0/0/42.09 17.802 €
5 BINTANG II TANGELO VAN DE ZUUTHOEVE 103LL90 KWPN Laura RENWICK GBR 0/0/42.47 10.681 €
13 UTAMARO D ECAUSSINES DIAMANT DE SEMILLY 102SS23 SBS Joe CLEE GBR 4 0 €
19 ALL STAR 5 ARGENTINUS 102UL65 HANN Denis LYNCH IRL 4 0 €