OCALA, Fla.--Olympic individual gold medalist Christian Kukuk of Germany on Just Be Gentle won the $350,000 Grand Prix CSIO5*-LLN at the League of Nations Ocala at the World Equestrian Center Thursday evening, March 20.
Christian Kukuk on Just Be Gentle (Photo by Allen MacMillan)Ireland’s Alan Wade set the course for 37 of the world’s top show jumping riders, with nine going clean to make the jump-off, where six again jumped clean.
As the first back in the jump-off, Kukuk put the pressure on with a clean round in 40.61 seconds, a time no one could catch.
“I was first to go; that’s always quite difficult in a jump-off, but I really tried,” said Kukuk, 35. “You always need a bit of luck, and now I’m the winner, and I’m very happy. I think my horse did a great job today. She is naturally a very fast horse.”
“She’s a sharp lion and, in the ring, she wants to go fast,” said Kukuk, speaking of his partner of the past two years. “The more you ask of her, the more ability she gets. I am very, very happy to have her in my stable. She will step up in the Nations Cup on Saturday, and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
Coming closest to catching Kukuk was Cian O’Connor, who was a member of the winning Irish team at last year’s inaugural League of Nations Ocala event.
RIDING Iron Man, O’Connor finished just off the winning pace in a time of 40.81 seconds.
Mimi Gochman on Incln BH (Photo by Allen MacMillan)“I was so pleased because it was the first time I’ve gone a little bit more against the clock on him,” said O’Connor. “Christian is who he is, an Olympic champion, and his horse is fantastic and very quick. I was just happy with my round. I looked up at the clock and saw it was .2 slower, but quickly, I realized it was still a very good result.”
Two up-and-coming females, 25-year-old Nina Mallevaey of France and 20-year-old Mimi Gochman, gave the Olympic veterans a run for their money.
Riding Nikka vd Bisschop, Mallevaey, currently second in the Under 25 rankings, was clean in 41.14 seconds to place third, with Gochman on Inclen BH fourth in 41.20 seconds.
World number one Henrik von Eckermann rounded out the top five with a clear round in a time of 42.22 on the fan favorite, King Edward.
Richard Vogel, currently ninth on the World Rankings, won the $32,000 Dutta Corporation Grand Prix Qualifier CSI2* held on Thursday afternoon.
Riding Phenyo van het Keysersbos, Vogel of Germany won in a 14-horse jump-off to beat Mallevaey on My Clementine.
Laura Kraut on Lady D placed third.
