Tim Price landed the biggest win of his career when he showjumped clear to clinch his first CCI4* title at Luhmühlen in Germany this afternoon.
The 35-year-old New Zealander and his ride, Wesko, have been on imperious form this spring. Their win here comes on the back of victory in the CIC3* at Tattersalls last month.
“He’s a very good horse and life is very easy for him. I wish I had 10 Weskos in the yard,” said Tim, who rose from 7th place after the dressage to 2nd going into the final day.
The overnight leaders Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST could not afford a fence down. Despite a few rattles, a clear round looked to be on the cards until the mare faltered at the penultimate double and booted out the first element.
“I was very happy with my round and with how my horse jumped. Doubles have always been her weakness, but she has been fighting for me all week and I can’t ask for more,” said Michael, adding that it “was very difficult to enjoy the moment [in light of Benjamin Winter’s death]”, and that yesterday’s events were “very difficult to talk about”.
Boyd Martin climbed the leaderboard from 6th overnight to 3rd with a clear round aboard his new ride Shamwari 4. This was despite only being back in the saddle for a fortnight, after breaking his leg in a fall 9 weeks ago.
Oliver Townend’s one rail down on Black Tie kept him in 4th place, but 3 fences down apiece for Bettina Hoy and Designer 10 (who also added 3 time penalties) and Philip Dutton and Mighty Nice dropped them down the order from 3rd and 5th to 8th and 7th respectively.
Dutch rider Elaine Pen and Vira — contesting their first CCI4* — lowered 1 rail to finish 5th, while Andreas Ostholt and So Is Et slotted into 6th.
Earlier in the day Andrew Hoy and Cheeky Calimbo had edged out the European silver medallists Ingrid Klimke and FRH Escada JS to take the CIC*** honours.
Sunday morning also saw a memorial service take place for Benjamin Winter in the main arena. The German team trainer Christopher Bartle paid tribute to the 25-year-old, describing him as a “passionate, popular and hugely talented rider, whose presence will be sorely missed”.
Read H&H magazine’s full report from Luhmühlen, on sale Thursday 19 June
