Germany’s Nicolai Aldinger Wins Strzegom CCI4*-S

CCI4*-S winner Nicolai Aldinger (GER) with Newell. Photo by Leszek Wójcik.

The first four-star competition in Europe since the competition season was paused due to coronavirus took place over the weekend at Strzegom Horse Trials. Germany’s Nicolai Aldinger won the class with Newell, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Newcomer x FRH Serve Well, by Sherlock Holmes) owned by Dieter and Nicolai Aldinger and Beate Hohnfeldt.

The pair is coming off a successful 2019 season that saw them finish 13th in their first five-star outing together at Pau. At Strzegom, they were fourth after dressage on 32.4 and had two rails in show jumping, which brought them down to sixth. But they rallied in the final phase, turning in the only clear round inside the time of the division to top the 13-horse field on a score of 40.4.

Watch Norberts XC-Round from Strezgom

Posted by Nicolai Aldinger Eventing on Sunday, July 5, 2020

The next two places went to riders from the Netherlands: Jordy Wilken with Burry Spirit was second, and Raf Kooremans with Dimitri N.O.P. was third. Mateusz Kiempa with Lassban Radovix, the leader after showjumping, and the only one with a clear round, went over the time in the cross country and finished fourth.

View complete CCI4*-S results here.

The winner of the three-star class was Merel Blom of the Netherlands with Ceda N.O.P. They took the lead after dressage, and one rail in show jumping and a few cross country time penalties they maintained their edge for the win. Second place went to Heike Jahncke from Germany riding Coco Spring, who rose up from 28th place after dressage thanks to double clear jumping rounds. Likewise, Paulina Maciejewska and Jangcy L made a big jump up the scoreboard, from 25th after dressage to 3rd after fault-free jumping phases.

View complete CCI3*-S results here.

The two-star class was the most populated one, with 64 competing horses. The winner was Mateusz Kiempa riding Libertina. He took the leading position after dressage, kept it in the jumping and maintained it through cross country despite some time penalties. Kai Steffen-Meier (GER) with Charming Ciaco was second, and Marta Dziak-Gierlicz (POL) came third.

View complete CCI2*-S results here.

The best rider in the one-star Intro class was Lara de Liedekerke-Meier from Belgium with Oda. Jakub Wiraszka (POL), a rider from Stragona Equestrian Centre, took second with Corrnero. The pair was 15th after dressage, but clear jumping and cross country rounds catapulted them up the scoreboard. Third place went to Julia Stiefele (GER) with Belong To Me.

A big cheer for Aki Joy Maruyama and Balou Moon! Aki Joy, a 20-year-old from Atlanta who rides for Japan, and her horse Balou Moon have been living in Belgium since April 2019, training and working under Kai Steffen Meier and Lara de Liedekerke. The pair finished 14th in the competitive CCI1* division.

View complete CCI1* results here.

The next edition of Strzegom Summer Tour will take place from July 16 – 19. Learn more at the website here. It’s good to have some European eventing back on the calendar!

Go Eventing.