Yasmin Ingham with Sue Davies and Janette Chinn’s Banzai du Loir. Photo by Shelby Allen.
We’ve finally gotten a look at the 43 horse and rider combinations representing 10 nations in next week’s CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S – plus, the six horses and riders who’ll be taking part in the Jump & Drive relay class under lights, one of our favourite fast-paced novelty classes in the game, which pits six teams made up of a showjumper, an event rider, and a combined driver apiece, against one another in a bid for glory in front of a packed stadium.
But first, let’s have a look at the entries in the eventing proper, which takes the form of a team competition, but isn’t part of the FEI Nations Cup calendar — so success this week won’t count towards points tallied in that series, and as such, won’t help any nations gain Olympic qualification. (Not that any of these guys will need it: the full teams here are all already qualified for Paris.) We’ll see teams fielded by the USA, Switzerland, New Zealand, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Australia and France, while Sweden and Belgium will also appear with individual competitors in Frida Andersen and Box Leo, and Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Ducati d’Arville and Jarno Verwimp and Mahalia, respectively.
We always see seriously top-end line-ups for Aachen, which is an invitational competition and, as such, is always ridden competitively — you won’t see riders coming here with the aim of doing a schooling round or a slow prep run. Rüdiger Schwarz always builds a tough, technical, twisty track in which time is a big factor — similar, then, to the CCI4*-S we saw at Luhmühlen last week.
Sandra Auffarth and Viamant du Matz win Aachen 2022. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The home side has a serious team hunting for national glory: Michael Jung heads up proceedings with fischerChipmunk FRH, and is joined by reigning champion Sandra Auffarth and Viamant du Matz, plus Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S, who was also part of the gold medal-winning Pratoni team last year and was second at Luhmühlen CCI5* in 2021. The team of four is completed by last year’s Blenheim CCI4*-L winners, Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K. As the host nation, Germany also gets extra individual slots — and so we’ll see young up-and-comers Calvin Böckmann, Rebecca-Juana Gerken, and Libussa Lübekke competing too, as well as seasoned competitor Anna Siemer.
Think that sounds like a good team? Wait ’til you meet the British front: World Champions Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir lead the charge, ably assisted by Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI, who were second at Luhmühlen CCI5* last year, Tom McEwen and JL Dublin, runners-up at Boekelo last season and Kentucky this year, and Gemma Stevens (nee Tattersall) on the impressive young Flash Cooley. They’ll be joined by Hector Payne and Dynasty, who will compete as individuals.
Will Coleman and the ‘weird’ Off The Record get the job done to take Aachen’s coveted CCIO4*-S in 2021. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
A bit of commotion for the US team, please: newly-minted Kentucky champions Tamie Smith and Mai Baum are joined by 2021 Aachen champions Will Coleman and Off The Record, who made history by becoming the first American winners of the competition when they took the trophy two years ago. They’re joined by Kentucky podium finishers Liz Halliday-Sharp and Miks Master C, plus the ultra-experienced Phillip Dutton and Z. Dan Krietl and Carmango will come forward as individual competitors, continuing their first summer competing abroad.
The Kiwis are bringing forward big guns, too; three of their four team members — Tim and Jonelle Price on Falco and McClaren, respectively, and Clarke Johnstone on Menlo Park — competed at the Pratoni World Championships last year, while Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier finished in the top ten at Pau on the mare’s CCI5* debut last year. Samantha Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ hold the individual spot.
Switzerland brings forward very nearly the same team with which they won the Pratoni test event and Nations Cup leg last year: Robin Godel and Grandeur de Lully CH, Mélody Johner and Toubleu de Rueire, Patrick Rüegg and Fifty Fiftyand Nadja Minder and Toblerone also took part in the World Championships, earning themselves a spot at Paris in the process.
Ireland’s team is helmed by Cathal Daniels and the super-fast, super-experienced Rioghan Rua. He’s joined by a team of slightly less experienced horses but hugely experienced riders in Susie Berry and Kilcandra Capitol, and Sarah Ennis and Action Lady M, as well as the five-star combo of Joseph Murphy and Calmaro.
France’s team can never be underestimated at Aachen, either. This year, they bring forward experienced five-star competitors Gireg le Coz and Aisprit de la Loge, Benjamin Massie and Edition Fonroy, Kentucky competitors Maxime Livio and Carouzo Bois Marotin, and Luc Chateau and Cocorico de l’Ebat, with Badminton competitors Arthur Marx and Church’Ile as individuals.
Finally, Australia delivers us a team of up-and-coming horses gaining international experience. Kevin McNab will ride the former Caroline Harris mount, Miss Pepperpot, and Bill Levett will ride the ten-year-old Sligo Candy Cane, who led after the first two phases in Bramham’s CCI4*-S this summer. California-based Rebecca Braitling has also made the journey with her longtime partner Caravaggio — and we’ll be catching up with her on site to find out how her European excursion has been treating her this summer.
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21 compete in the Jump & Drive class at Aachen in 2022. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Now let’s take a look at the Jump & Drive: while we don’t yet know who they’ll all be teamed up with for this brilliant late-night class, we do know that we’ll have six fantastic eventers taking part: for Australia, it’ll be Andrew Hoy, riding Cadet de Beliard; for Belgium, it’ll be Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Pumpkin de la Liniere; for the Brits, we’ll see the hotly-anticipated return to the world stage of Gemma Stevens‘s Santiago Bay; for Germany, it’ll be a double-header in Calvin Böckmann and Crunchip P and Anna Siemer and Pirate Smile; and for Ireland, it’s Joseph Murphy and Belline Fighting Spirit.
Take a look at the entries in full here, and keep it locked on EN for all the coverage you could possibly desire from this showcase event, starting from next Thursday, June 29. Go Eventing!
EN’s Coverage of CHIO Aachen is brought to you with support from Kentucky Performance Products and Ocala Horse Properties.
