(CHIO Aachen) -Germany clearly dominated in the Deutsche Bank Grand Prix Freestyle at Aachen taking first, second and third place. First place went to Helen Langehanenberg, and Damon Hill second to Kristina Sprehe and Desperados and third to Dorothee Schneider and Diva Royal.

“I am overjoyed,” a delighted Helen Langehanenberg said about her performance with Damon Hill.  The pair was awarded a score of 85.150 percent in the Deutsche Bank Prize, the Grand Prix Freestyle. “Our performance has improved here every day, I am super satisfied, but I must admit Damon Hill loves the freestyle. For me it was perfect today overall, but I’ll have to take a look at the fine details. I think there are a lot of top pairs at the moment, the respective form on the day is the deciding factor,” commented Helen Langehanenberg, whose stud stallion, Damon Hill, a Westphalian-bred Donnerhall/Rubinstein son, has already produced some very successful offspring.

Second place went to Kristina Sprehe with the 11-year-old Hanoverian stallion, Desperados, The pair scored 84.7 percent. “That was only my third freestyle. It felt great, everything went very well, even if we do have to improve the fine tuning slightly,” the 24-year-old said. “Simply fantastic,” was how Dorothee Schneider described her ride. “We are so much in harmony, it felt super and I really enjoyed myself,” said Dorothee Schneider, who finished third with her 10-year-old Hanoverian mare, Diva Royal, by Don Frederico/Warkant (81.1 percent).  Three Germans on the winners’ rostrum – the German national coach, Johnny Hilberath, was totally happy: “This was precisely the performance we were hoping for, the girls were already good at the German Championships in Balve, they are impressively constant and cool.  All three performed very well here.“  He was also very impressed by the CHIO Aachen: “The atmosphere here is unique worldwide, it is a special event for everyone.”

The Austrian rider, Victoria Max-Theurer, scored 80.975 percent, which placed her fourth in the rankings with Augustin OLD.  Two riders had to withdraw their horses at short notice: Delgado, the horse of the Spanish rider, Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, had a swollen leg the evening before, which gave the Austrian rider, Renate Voglsang and her horse Fabriano, the opportunity to compete in her place. Then, shortly before the competition started, Imke Schellekens-Bartels had to withdraw the KWPN-bred gelding, Hunter Douglas Toots, also due to a swollen leg.

Photo Courtesy of CHIO Aachen