Fairytale weekend for Philip Weishaupt

The 2016 Aachen drew to a close yesterday with a surprise victory for German rider Philip Weishaupt in the Rolex GP.
On home soil and backed by the home fans, the fearless pupil of Ludger Beerbaum impressed to take the spoils in the first leg of the prestigious Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping 2016.
The result is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best of the rider’s career and who appears to have a special relationship with Aachen.
Five years ago here, Weishaupt met his partner Bliss Heers and together they share the same passion for equestrianism. What’s more, the couple announced their engagement on Saturday with Philip celebrating in style by going on to win the GP less than 24 hours later.
The German rider dominated right from the first round where he picked up just 2 penalties followed by a clear in the second round with LB Convall (Colman) for the win.
Current title holder Scott Brash was second while the final podium slot went to Sergio Alvarez Moya. The rest of the top-ten was as follows:
4th Marcus Ehning GER Pret A Tout
5th Tiffany Foster CAN Tripple X III
6th McLain Ward USA HH Azur
7th Elizabeth Madden USA Cortes C
8th Daniel Deusser GER Equita van’t Zorgvliet
9th Judy-Ann Melchior BEL As Cold As Ice Z
10th Meredith Michaels Beerbaum GER Fibonacci 17
Team Germany can be more than pleased seeing as they managed to place 4 of their riders in the top-ten. Italy’s representative, Emanuele Gaudiano, came 28th. See here for more and a full breakdown of the results: http://resulting.chioaachen.de/show/8/event/41/competition/16/result/
However, the day belonged to Philipp Weishaupt, the underdog who upset the odds, beating a star studded line-up to take the win on a tricky and testing but above all historic course.
photo: CHIO Aachen/Michael Strauch
www.chioaachen.de