Even if there were still one or the other mistake, it should have become clear to everyone by the European Championships in Riesenbeck at the latest that with Stargold a special horse is maturing in the Ehning stable. The eleven-year-old from Oldenburg showed his full potential in Doha today. And his rider? Today he demonstrated once again why all young riders call him their role model.
Some of the best show jumpers in the world competed in Doha this weekend. No wonder, the Grand Prix was endowed with 410,000 euros. Two rounds and a jump-off were the challenge. In the end, six couples who reached the jump-off after two clear rounds had a real chance of winning. Against the clock it got really exciting.
Jur Vrieling and the ten-year-old Holsteiner Lasino son Long John Silver made the start. The gray has a huge canter stride, but is not the fastest. Vrieling tried everything, but a pole fell at the entry point of the double combination. But there's no question that Jur Vrieling has a great horse again.
Next up is the Netherlands again with Harrie Smolders and Bingo du Parc, his eleven-year-old Mylord Carthago son, who has already turned spectacular laps in the past year. The two were flawless, although not everything went according to plan in the jump-off and Smolders had to take the fox out of speed again before the final oxer.
Maikel van der Vleuten was significantly faster with his bronze medalist from Tokyo, Beauville Z. Van der Vleuten took two seconds off his compatriot and looked damn fast. But would that be enough?
Next up were Marcus Ehning and Stargold and Marcus Ehning. The Stakkato Gold son doesn't have the biggest canter stride. But today that was clearly an advantage as it allowed him to keep the momentum in even the tightest of turns and negotiate the obstacles in the river. And as always: perfect riding by Marcus Ehning! In every phase 100 percent in line with the movement of his horse and hitting every obstacle to the point. A feast for the eyes! It took the two just 33.98 seconds. Ehning looked at his watch and threw his fist in the air. Actually a bit early, because there were two strong couples from Sweden. But Ehning knew: That's hard to top!
Evelina Tovek and the twelve-year-old Winningmood son Winnetou de la Hamente Z started things off. For the young student of Henrik von Eckermann , it was the clear round in the second fastest time of 36.51 seconds.
But then came Tovek's coach himself, Henrik von Eckermann. And he had none other than his Olympic sensation King Edward under saddle and the advantage of the last starter on his side. King Edward did his very best, as always. And von Eckermann had a plan: to ride one stride less on the double combination. He had to try everything to beat Ehning. Already on the first jumps he had been slower. But it shouldn't be for the third in the world rankings. A pole fell at the entry of the double combination and the time (36.20 seconds) would not have been enough either.
So the test ended in this order: victory (and 135,300 euros) for Marcus Ehning and Stargold, second place for Evelina Tovek (huge success for the 29-year-old number 200 in the world rankings), third place for third place from Tokyo, Maikel van der Vleuten and Beauville Z, followed by Harrie Smolders with Bingo du Parc, Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward and Jur Vrieling on Long John Silver, which Vrieling has been presenting since mid-2021.
An overjoyed Marcus Ehning fell from one hug to the next on the warm-up area. There was nobody who wouldn't have begrudge him this victory after this furious jump-off. Ehning himself said: "I still can't believe it. The way he jumped all three rounds was just amazing. And in the jump-off, yes, he flew.”
No, it's not the first Grand Prix that Marcus Ehning and Stargold have won. For example, last year they won the highlight of the three-star tour in Knokke . But this was the first time they had been up front in a five-star Grand Prix. Today may have been the final breakthrough for Stargold.
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