Anticipation rising ahead of the World Equestrian Festival 2015.
We’ve reached that stage of the year once again, and the anticipation is rising ahead of one of the most popular equestrian events in the world: the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen.
It gets going on the 29th of May and runs through until the 31st of May, and the eyes of the world will all be on the Rolex Grand Prix, one of the three legs of the prestigious tournament that also stops off in Geneva and Calgary. Adding to the excitement is the fact that 1 million euros in prize money will be given to the rider that is able to make it a famous hat-trick and triumph in each leg of the competition.
Of course, winning is easier said than done but it hasn’t stopped riders preparing in Germany to try and make that happen. Some of the biggest stars from the international scene and the majority of the top-35 will be there. This includes Patrice Delaveau and his extraordinary mounts Carinjo HDC and Orient Express, world champion Jeroen Dubbeldam with Zenith SFN, a member of the Dutch team that won the world title for the team event Maikel van der Vleuten with Vdl Groep Verdi TN NOP, US riders Beezie Madden with the revelation in Normandy Cortes ‘C and Kent Farrington with Blue Angel and Voyeur. These are just a few of the big names that will be competing at the what has been dubbed “the holy grass“ of Aachen and that every year welcomes 350.000 spectators.
To mark the occasion, the organizers have also announced a new partner, the German beer Bitburger, with whom they have signed an initial agreement of 3 years and which will also sponsor the European Championships in 2015 in August.
Focusing back to the Rolex Grand Prix, last year’s winner in Aachen was Germany’s Christian Ahlmann with Codex One. Commenting on that achievement at the inauguration of the World Equestrian Festival, the rider said it was one of his biggest objectives at one of the most prestigious courses. As part of the inauguration, Christian Ahlmann also had the chance to meet one of the chefs from the Aachen Gourmet project Johann Lafer.
To sum-up, the anticipation is rising and the entire city of Aachen is ready for the event, even if this year’s won’t be as big as previous ones seeing as the European Championships are just around the corner. Click here for a full list of those taking part: http://www.hippobase.com/EventInfo/Entries/CompetitorHorse.aspx?EventID=928&lang=en&EntryGroupIDs=CSI&Submit=OK&ShowCompetitors=on&ShowHorses=on&HorsesCompact=on
www.chioaachen.de
