American rider Ward wins the Dean Bush Grand Prix
American show jumper Maclean Ward wins the Den Bosch Grand Prix at The Dutch Masters. With his horse HH Azur, he stayed clear on the jump with a time of 37.86. Because he had previously won the Geneva Grand Prix, the victory earned him a bonus of half a million euros as well as a prize money of 330,000 euros. The competitions in Den Bosch and Geneva are part of the same series. If he also wins the Aachen GP in July, he will receive a €1m bonus.
France’s Julien Abaillard finished second, with a time of 38.06 seconds, with Donatello Daug. Swede Henrik von Eckermann, world champion, came third with King Edward, with a time of 38.52 seconds.
The Dutch riders failed to finish on the podium in front of their home crowd. Lars Kersten was the best Dutchman with his horse Hallelila. He came in sixth place with a time of 39.01. Mark Hotzager finished ninth with Holly Molly, also clear, in 40.41. Course creator Louis Connex concluded that his courses were too easy for riders. “It’s not selective enough. I have to talk to the riders. They already warned me there was going to be a lot of them.”
23-year-old Christine was happy with his result. “It was an extraordinarily competitive jump. I felt like I had ridden really hard. It wasn’t too far. But I have to be very satisfied here. Hallilea jumped really nicely.”
National coach Jose Lansink praised his Knights. “The Dutch riders rode hard this weekend at the highest level and took several wins. That was very good. I’m looking forward to the national championship at the end of April.”
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