Leipzig (GER), 20 January 2013 – Germany’s Christian Ahlmann showed exactly why he holds No. 1 position on the Jumping World Rankings when trouncing the opposition in the ninth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Western European League series at Leipzig, Germany today.  In the ten-horse jump-off against the clock he was in a class of his own with the brilliant Taloubet Z who set an unbeatable target when sixth to go.  And it was a spectacular hat-trick for the partnership who took the Rolex title at the 2011 Final and also won last year’s qualifier at this same venue.

Runner-up was Ireland’s Denis Lynch with the big gelding, Abbervail van het Dingeshof, while Olympic individual silver medallists, The Netherlands’ Gerco Schroder and London, finished third.  On an afternoon when many of the top riders were further testing some newer horses in their strings, it was Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer who slotted into fourth ahead of Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander and Ego van Orti in fifth place.

A total of 40 horse-and-rider combinations contested this class, and it was always going to be a tough one to win as the starting line-up included nine of the top ten in the World Rankings.  With the series now moving towards the closing stages, and with just three further qualifiers to go, the battle for a qualifying spot at the Final in Gothenburg, Sweden in April is intensifying with every round. And course designer, Germany’s Frank Rothenburger, tested them with a track that demanded rider skills all the way to the final fence.

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