Liz Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night will be repping for the U.S. at Wiesbaden. Photo courtesy of ERM.
As if you didn’t have enough four-star eventing action to keep up with this weekend already, Leg Two of the 2019 Event Rider Masters series is taking place as well at Germany’s Longines PfingstTurnier Wiesbaden. The 15-strong lineup is as star-studded as it gets, including the two previous winners of the ERM leg at Wiesbaden along with five other past ERM leg victors.
THE FIELD
- Australia: Last year’s ERM Series Champion Chris Burton will lead the way for Australia aboard Lawtown Chloe. Fan favorite Bill Levett will look to return to an ERM podium for the second time with his stalwart partner Shannondale Titan. Keep an eye out for Katja Weimann and BP Escapade as well.
- Germany: Ingrid Klimke and SAP Hale Bob OLD took the win at Wiesbaden last year and will look to defend the title. Michael Jung returns to the ERM series with Star Connection, winner of the Haras de Jardy leg in 2017, which was also the last time the horse competed at the CCI4*-S level. Julia Krajewski and Samourai du Thot finished third at Wiesbaden last year and will look to improve on their performance as they hunt for their first ERM win. Andreas Ostholt will perform the final test of Pennsylvania 28’s career. Peter Thomsen with Horseware Nobleman and Jan Matthias with Granulin 2 round out the formidable home turf contingent.
- Great Britain: The 2017 Wiesbaden champions Sarah “Cutty” Cohen and Treason will look to return the trophy to Great Britain.
- New Zealand: Power couple Tim and Jonelle Price have both basked in five-star victory, but both have yet to win an ERM leg. Tim, who is one of only two riders to have made the time previously in an ERM leg at Wiesbaden, comes forward with Wesko, who finished second at Haras de Jardy last year. Jonelle rides Grovine de Reve in the horse’s ERM debut.
- Sweden: Sweden has yet to claim an ERM podium finish, and Ludwig Svennerstal will put the pressure on with speedy Stinger, who won the non-ERM section at Wiesbaden last year as one of the only horses to catch the optimum time on cross country. Louise Romeike will ride her 2018 World Equestrian Games partner Waikiki 207.
- United States: Liz Halliday-Sharp will be one to watch as the sole rider representing the U.S. with CCI4*-S specialist Fernhill By Night, who has been on flying form in the States, winning two of his last three runs at the level.
Check out a video of the live draw here.
Julia Krajewski and Samourai du Thot. Photo courtesy of ERM.
THE COMPETITION
The competition kicks off with dressage on Friday, June 7, which will be broadcast from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CEST (4:30 to 7:30 a.m. EST). Fifteen combinations representing six different nations will face the ground jury of Nick Burton (GBR), Dr. Katrin Eichinger-Kniely (AUT) and Dr. Joachim Dimmek (GER). See the dressage times here.
Show jumping follows dressage on Friday beginning at 4:45 p.m. CEST (10:30 a.m. EST). View show jumping times here.
The field will tackle Rüdiger Schwarz’s challenging cross country track amidst the backdrop of the stunning Biebrich Palace on Saturday beginning at 3:20 p.m. CEST (9:20 a.m. EST) — view cross country times here.
The second leg of the ERM series runs alongside four days of international show jumping, Grand Prix dressage and vaulting competition at Longines PfingstTurnier Wiesbaden.
Can Ingrid take the ERM win for a second consecutive year? All will be revealed in due time. Watch live and for free on www.eventridermasters.tv!
Wiesbaden: ERM Website, Event Website, Start Times, Live Scores, Live Stream
