Cross-country day at Aachen: a high-speed odyssey, demonstrated by Alyssa Phillips and Oskar. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
If you can expect anything from the cross-country finale of CHIO Aachen’s star-studded, invitation-only CCIO4*-S, it is simply this – the unexpected. There’s a few factors that contribute to this – first, because it’s an enormously prestigious invitation-only competiton with a championship vibe, the pressure and the intensity is dialled up to 100 and the scores tend to be tightly packed. Secondly, course designer Rüdiger Schwarz’s twisty, technical cross-country track leaves very little space for making up time on the clock – as such, we always, without fail, see run-outs very late in the course when riders start to take ambitious lines or push for the finish line, and because it’s smartly built with skinnies and angle, to avoid falls or a loss of confidence for the horses, those inevitable surprise 20s often end up being the stories of the day.
But actually, in a rare twist of fate, today’s Aachen finale wasn’t lost from the front – instead, the was passed around the houses as competitor after competitor racked up a small handful (or more!) of time penalties. But in the end, the prize would end up back where it started: with overnight leader Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21, who had stepped up into the top spot last night after the post-showjumping withdrawal of Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of Julia’s win, though, or the final lay of the leaderboard, let’s take a look back at how we got there. The day began in a slightly bewildering sort of way: Michi and Chipmunk, the frontrunners of the not-quite-yet-confirmed German Olympic team, were already out of the hunt, and very early in the draw were the other two horses and riders listed in Block One of the shortlist – the ones who, in effect, are about 95% certain of a spot at the Games.
After a strong start, the first of the two, Christoph Wahler on Carjatan S, put his hand up two-thirds of the way home and trotted happily off the course, a member of the German team’s support system loping, Hasselhoff-style, beside him. Then, a couple of horses later, in exactly the same spot, the other, Sandra Auffarth with her Tokyo mount Viamant du Matz, did the same. Okay, fair play – so it was a planned early exit for both, evidently agreed upon with the German powers-that-be, and would have no effect upon the Olympic line-up, right?
Well, maybe – except for the fact that before she pulled up, Sandra and ‘Mat’, who were champions here two years ago, had a run-out. That came at fence 10B, a skinny at the bottom of a short, sharp downward slope from a brush fence.
“[Pulling up] was the plan – it was a training round, so [the goal was] to ride a little bit softer and not treat him too harsh or risk too much,” she explains. “[On fence 10B], I think I came a little bit too much to the inside line, and then he was not totally focused on the fence so it felt like he didn’t see the fence. But I think the mistake was because I took the wrong line and I had to jump it more to the right.”
Will this small error see move Sandra moved out of her provisional spot in the list of three for Paris? Maybe, but also probably not: though a blip this close to the Games is unfortunate, it’s also sometimes exactly what a hugely experienced horse and rider need in order to sharpen themselves up for the big day. In short: we won’t know until we know, but certainly, both of those withdrawals made an early impact on the shape of the day. Christoph had been overnight runner-up; Sandra and Mat had been overnight seventh. The door was opened – with a bit of a bang, really – for newcomers into the top ten.
And then it opened a bit more: Tim Price and his smart up-and-comer Jarillo had a very late runout at 19C, the corner element of the combination just before the main stadium where the finish is situated, dropping them from sixth to 31st; Switzerland’s Felix Vogg and his five-star winner Colero also had a runout at that combination, but at the A element instead, and ultimately retired at fence 20, costing them their overnight eighth place. This final combination – the STAWAG complex – is so often one of the main characters of Aachen; many hearts have been broken when riders in fortuitous positions find themselves down on the clock at the eleventh hour of the track and try to take a risk here. That we only saw three total issues here today – Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and Isazsa also had a runout at the C element, dropping them from 26th to 34th – feels like a bit of an Aachen miracle, really.
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Because of the curious order of Aachen’s final phase – individual competitors head out of the start box first, and then the team riders run in a nation draw that sees them head out in reverse order of merit by team and by rider – we knew within the first few rounds that Julia Krajewski and her ten-year-old Nickel 21 had jumped a clear round. But what wasn’t clear was whether it would be enough. They’d begun the day with a margin of 4.1 penalties; when they crossed the finish line, they did so with 6.4 time penalties added, which gave several riders the opportunity to move ahead of her if they could catch the notoriously tough time, or come very close to it.
A couple of them, late in the day, would give it a very, very good go: Laura Collett and Dacapo, who have previously been runners-up here, added 2 time penalties that cost them the win by a 0.6 point margin; Emily King and Valmy Biats, last out of the startbox today, looked on track to give it a very good bash indeed, but ultimately added 4.8 time penalties to miss out by 2.5 penalties. They finished third and fifth, respectively, instead, and handed the crown to German Olympic Champion Julia, who won here previously in 2018 with fischerChipmunk – then just Chipmunk FRH – before he was reallocated to Michael Jung.
“Two days ago I walked past the big tower [at the in-gate] where all the winners’ names are written down and I took a picture, and then I thought, ‘how cool would it be to have my name on there again?’,” she says with a grin. “But there’s so much between hoping to win and actually winning.”
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Julia is the first to own the fact that few people would have chosen Nickel as the obvious winner of this year’s Aachen, though not for lack of talent: the ten-year-old already has six four-star placings to his name, including a win at Arville last summer. But he’s still often regarded as a young up-and-comer, and perhaps, his slightly unusual trajectory in the sport can take some credit for keeping him mostly out of the spotlight until the last year or so.
“I don’t think it’s something many people predicted, maybe, and I really like to win – but I like it even more when it’s a surprise,” says Julia. “It makes it very special when you win something big without maybe even being in contention, and especially for the owners. It’s a massive team effort, and we have really fun people, and really great supporters. I think Nickel’s owner is still crying and can’t really believe what just happened!”
That unusual trajectory goes a little something like this: he was originally bought by the owners of Julia’s Olympic champion, Amande de b’Neville, to be a showjumper, but though he was nearly able to qualify for the six-year-old national championships in that discipline, he wasn’t quite good enough to continue his progression. And so those owners offered him to Julia to try. As a seven-year-old he did his first event; three months later, he stepped up to two-star.
But Julia suspected he may be better suited to a young rider, rather than continuing on to the upper levels, and so he was sold to Sophia Rössel, who kept him at Julia’s yard. When Sophia decided to take a gap year and move to New Zealand, Julia took the ride back and continued to produce him – but mostly, he became the ‘fun horse’ on her yard, tackling novelty classes like Aachen’s Ride & Drive and Stockholm’s indoor eventing, because, Julia says, he’s such a straightforward character.
And then, suddenly, he was a four-star horse – and swiftly, a very, very good one, finishing on the podium in his first run at the level. And now? He’s the 2024 Aachen Champion, and continues to be the horse that defies all expectations – for Julia, and for his owners, the Rössels.
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
“Nickel is such a genuine horse – he really, really wants to do everything right,” says Julia, who began her week in second place on a 23.9 with the gelding. “He has always been super rideable and quite straightforward, really. It’s interesting with him – you always think ‘okay, maybe we reached the limit,’ but then half a year later it’s better. Sometimes you have horses that have huge talent, like with Mandy [Amande de b’Neville]. I always knew she’s got massive talent, you only have to channel it. With Nickel, it sometimes feels like the talent seems to grow more: he’s constantly building and getting a bit stronger and learning more.”
“But the best thing about him, I think is, he’s just super genuine. He’s never had a run out ever, I think. He just wants to do well. Whatever I present, he like, ‘Okay, what do I have to do? Okay, let’s do it,’ and he doesn’t think of not doing it, and that also goes for the other disciplines.”
That meant, Julia continues, that she was “actually fairly relaxed before cross country today! The thing that’s stressing me most is when I know I have to ride fast, because I like to take my time here and there, and I’m also not so young anymore! Then, when I know I have to go for it, I’m like ‘oh dear!’ But I’m never really concerned that he wouldn’t do something, which is a very nice feeling, because I’ve also had other horses that have tended to be a bit more cheeky or maybe took the chance. But Nickel is just is like your best buddy. He really, really wants to go well with you – it’s very cool.”
And so she set out on course with a plan, and an awareness of the little margin she had to play with – but in the first half of the track, she was thrown a spanner in the works that required her to take a little bit more time over the moist, spongy ground.
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
“I knew I had a little bit of time, but he lost a shoe quite early and felt that a little bit, and then I thought, ‘Okay, I don’t want to override too much, but bring him home as quick and safe as possible’,” she says. “After my cross country round, I thought, maybe the couple of seconds I prepared for him there might have cost me the win. In the end luckily it didn’t — but there was some nerve racking minutes at the end!”
Julia’s very early draw in the class meant that she and Nickel didn’t get the full hit of Aachen’s extraordinary atmosphere – but it also meant that she had hours to wait before she knew whether she’d done enough to win.
“In 2018 [when I won] I was, I think, last to go,” she says. “When you actually have something to do later, to ride your horse, it’s a different feeling than being done with your part and then just sitting there and watch for two hours! So I was maybe more nervous [this time] to see what happened But it’s a really, really nice feeling when your young horse goes out in an atmosphere like Aachen and just really does his best. It’s pretty similar [to the first win in 2018] – the only shame was that because I was very early, I knew the stadium wouldn’t be very full yet, so I thought, ‘hopefully I make it to the prizegiving again and get a full stadium!’”
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
When she returned for that prizegiving, it was to packed stands and a deafening roar of support from some 40,000 people.
“I think it’s always, always special in Aachen,” she says. “The full stadium clapping when you enter is second to nothing.”
Now, buoyed by this landmark win, Julia is looking forward to Nickel’s peak, which is still yet to come.
“I mean, going to Aachen at ten, if you said, ‘you can win it’ – I don’t know,” she laughs. “I mean, he’s good, but you sometimes think you need something extra special, extra big-moving to win here. But, often this consistency and reliability and to really know what you have to do and what you have is worth so much. He was always a little bit the underdog, maybe, but I think he’s really starting to make his point, and I think he’s far from reaching his full potential.”
“The base is good, and he’s now really starting to grow into it, which is very cool,” she continues. “Actually, that’s also why I was so emotional after the win, because I think often people don’t really believe in him, but when you look at his record, it’s very impressive. It’st always really, really nerve racking to do a young horse’s first Aachen, the first 4*, the first 4*-L — you never really know before [you do it,] and if they’ve done it five times then you really know what you get, so that’s something to aim for.”
Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom Of The Opera. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
When Julia’s not busy winning major titles and producing exceptional horses, she’s also the head coach at the German federation’s Warendorf production line for the Olympic teams of the future – and her closest competitor at the end of the day was her 23-year-old protégé, Calvin Böckmann. He and his partner of two years, The Phantom Of The Opera, with whom he completed Kentucky this spring, began their week in twelfth place on a 30.9, climbed to ninth last night with their faultless showjumping round, and delivered the first – and one of just two – clear round inside the time today to finish on that 30.9 and climb up to a final second place. Their finish sees them just 0.6 penalties behind Julia and Nickel – but Calvin, who in his Young Rider career was dubbed ‘the young Jung’ by EquiRatings for his classy, competitive riding, admits he never saw today’s result coming.
“I called a few friends and they all said, ‘wow that’s crazy!’,” he laughs. “I’m slowly starting to realize it now. I mean Aachen is just the most special show we have in Germany, I would say. The atmosphere is incredible.”
Calvin and ‘Phanty’ have won fans around the world for their joyful partnership, which sees each bring out an enormous amount of bravery in the other – evidenced best, perhaps, by the stride they left out while jumping into the Head of the Lake at Kentucky this spring. Today’s course was a very different type of track to that one, but Calvin knew, too, that it would play to his horse’s strengths.
“I knew that today’s cross country that time would be a big factor and Phantom can be really fast. I actually had an amazing feeling,” he grins. “Everything went very fluid, and I know him very well, so we were able to cut a few turns and take some strides out, and I think that was the reason why we ended up in second.”
“I’ve been to Kentucky with him at the beginning of the year, and I think we just grew so much together, so much more,” he continues. “I think that’s what you need – you need more or less blind trust, as well. You definitely need to know where you can cut the turns a little bit, where you can maybe leave out a stride because it’s just so, so difficult to get the time here, and I think that was just a big benefit I had with him. He fully trusts me, I fully trust him.”
Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom Of The Opera. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
But, he says of the former Sandra Auffarth ride, “It’s not always been so easy with him, to be honest. A lot of people didn’t want us to do 5* — they were just like ‘ah, we’re not sure if he’s a horse for that’, but he was amazing. We are dreaming a little bit about doing another 5* this year with him, although that’s not really sure yet. The eyes are on Maryland, but it’s not so easy with the funding. That would be a dream because I think he’s always a horse, that needs the galloping stretches, and I think that would suit him very well.”
For Calvin, whose career has already been so full of hard-earned successes even by just the start of its second chapter, the feeling of speeding through the Soers park with the full force of the home nation’s support behind him was both emboldening and moving.
“I mean, it’s just incredible,” he says. “Usually when we have eventing competitions throughout the year, you rarely have people standing on the side of the ropes like this. It’s really nice for us, and a great feeling having people inside the stadium cheering for you – it just motivates you a lot.”
Calvin and Phantom are listed in Block 3 of Germany’s Olympic longlist – the same Block as Julia and Nickel, and while the travelling reserve is more likely to be drawn from Block 2, which is comprised of Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K (18th this week) or Jérôme Robiné and Black Ice (13th), both riders at the business end of the leaderboard will have given the selectors much to think about ahead of tomorrow’s official team selection announcement, and its reserve and alternate lists.
Third place went the way of 2021 runners up Laura Collett and Dacapo, who added just 2 time penalties to their first-phase score of 28.9 to complete their climb up from seventh to third place.
“Just to be at Aachen is so special,” says Laura. “Dacapo seems to love it here – the atmosphere, the crowds, everything about Aachen is incredible. It’s one of the best shows in the world and we all want to come back here year in, year out, so to have a horse that loves it here too is really special.”
Dacapo hasn’t always been the most straightforward horse, but now, at 15, he’s become much more consistent – something that’s been helped enormously by Laura’s recognition of, and targeting of, his favourite shows. This week, that has once again paid dividends.
“I’m absolutely delighted — he’s been faultless from start to finish,” she says. “He was absolutely on his game across country. He’s a bit of a quirky horse – he’s either phenomenal or he says he doesn’t want to go. I don’t have much say in the matter. So it’s nice that he seems to enjoy it here and loves the challenge of a bit of a go-kart track, with everything happening very quickly. The crowd really helped him to stay motivated. He likes the crowds, and if he’s just on a big open galloping track, he just switches off. So here and Boekelo are his two favorite places, which I’m not complaining about!”
Australia’s Chris Burton, who’s made his return to eventing this year after a three-year hiatus and will compete at Paris with the former Ben Hobday ride Shadowman, took fourth place after delivering the second clear inside the time of the day with Clever Louis and finishing on their first-phase score of 32.1. That makes him the new record-holder of the most FODs here – five, across ten runs – and also gave him a sixteen-place boost up the leaderboard across the phases.
Emily King and Valmy Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Emily King and her two-time Grantham Cup winner Valmy Biats, with whom she was fourth at Badminton this spring, finished fifth in their first Aachen after adding 4.8 time penalties, which dropped them down a spot from their overnight fourth. But Emily’s not prone to spending too much time ruing a placing or two – instead, she’s delighted to make a long-held aim come true. She first came to Aachen to groom for her mother, Mary, when she was in her early teens – though, she admits with a laugh, “I don’t think I was much use – I just kept disappearing to enjoy the show!” – and has dreamed of competing here ever since.
Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and Hermione d’Arville. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier continues to enjoy her extraordinary – and supremely hard-won – purple patch, and finishes the day with two horses in the top ten. Ducati d’Arville, who was tenth here last year, finished sixth after adding just 2.8 time penalties to his dressage score of 31, propelling him up from 14thplace, while Hermione d’Arville, who was named as her direct reserve for the Paris Olympics today, climbed from 27th to 7th, adding just 3.6 time penalties to her dressage score of 34.1.
Austria’s Lea Siegl and her longtime partner Van Helsing P began their week in fifth place on a 28.6, but dropped seemingly out of the hunt into fifteenth last night with an expensive rail. But their decisive round today, which added just 5.2 time penalties to their score card, sent them right back up the board to eighth place. They’re closely followed in ninth place by James Alliston and Karma, who finished best of the US riders with just 2.4 time penalties. That’s a 24 place climb from the first phase – and another demonstration of this exciting ten-year-old’s extraordinary natural turns of speed.
James Alliston and Karma. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Tenth place was rounded out by Dirk Schrade and Casino 80, who climbed from 19th to 12th yesterday, and a further two places today on their 6.4 time penalty round – and, as Block 3 German longlist contenders, they give the selectors yet another headache. Frankly, though, by the sounds of the party now raging outside the media centre, we reckon they might find some novel ways to self-soothe tonight.
Speaking of teams, the British contingent led from pillar to post to win the Nations Cup competition, thanks to Laura, Emily, Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI (19th) and Izzy Taylor and SBH Big Wall (37th). They closed the weekend out on an aggregate score of 112.8.
The US team of developing horses – and three Aachen debutant riders – finished in an impressive second place, having climbed up from second-to-last after dressage to third after showjumping, in which all four competitors jumped faultless rounds. Their final climb today was led by James and Karma’s excellent round and buoyed along by strong efforts from all three remaining riders and their horses.
Alyssa Phillips and Oskar. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Alyssa Phillips and Oskar finished fourteenth, completing an eleven-place climb from the first phase after adding 8.8 time penalties today.
“He was awesome, and the course actually rode to plan,” says Alyssa. “But I think with all the crowds and everything kind of bam, bam, bam, Oskar got a little bit weary towards the end. But I was like, ‘Come on, buddy, let’s go!’ And he was like, ‘Okay!’ and he’s such a genuine horse, so he always wants to jump what’s in front of him. But I did have to work quite hard to keep his focus towards the end.”
That weariness, she explains, was a mental tiredness: “It’s just having to land and keep going. A lot of people talked about how the course was so much easier than last year, but you started to see all these problems across the board, so I think people were a little quick to jump on that. It’s Aachen! You still have to ride for everything that’s there. And the crowds out there are crazy. I’ve never ridden anything like it! You know, you jump a single fence, and they’re like, ‘WAAAH!’ it’s like a muffled thing, but you hear them!”
As much as that intensity in the crowd takes careful management while on course, it’s a feeling that Alyssa won’t soon forget.
“I was getting chills, and when you come into the main ring, there’s a huge roar,” she says. “It was an amazing feeling crossing the finish line. I’m so lucky to have him as a partner, and the rest of my team mates this weekend have been awesome. We’re all just thrilled for each other, and for the horses and the owners, the supporters, the coaches. It’s an exciting weekend for everybody.”
Liz Halliday and Shanroe Cooley. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Liz Halliday and nine-year-old Shanroe Cooley finished sixteenth, picking up just 7.6 time penalties and closing out their climb from first-phase 31st.
“I’m really proud of him. He’s only a nine-year-old, and this would by far be the most intense thing he’s ever experienced,” says Liz. “He got a little tired on me at the end, I think not so much from his physicality, but from just so much. He’s a big, tall horse, too. But he fought for me all the way to the end, and he never gave up. He’s just a really world class horse.”
Now, an end of season return to Europe could be on the cards for the exciting youngster: “I’d love for him to go to Boekelo – that would be my hope for him,” says Liz. “I think that’d be a great education for him again. And then if he’s ready for it, we will aim for a 5* next year, maybe. Right now, it’s just about giving him all these experiences and getting his body stronger and mentally stronger and all those things.”
Hallie Coon and Cute Girl. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Hallie Coon and ten-year-old Cute Girl, who were best of the US team in the first two phases, delivered 95% of an exceptional round, with the diminutive Holsteiner mare showing just how much grit and courage and joie de vivre she’s developed over the last year. The inexperienced wobbles of the start of the mare’s four-star career are so evidently behind her – in all the places where she might previously have been expected to drop anchor, she instead showed the depth of her education and class. But, as is so often the case for even the most experienced combinations at Aachen, the pair were caught out at the eleventh hour – not at that STAWAG combination just before the main arena, but in the arena itself. They jumped neatly through the busy questions in the stadium and then, heartbreakingly, just undercooked their engine for an expensive moment on the way into 22B, in sight of the finish line. The new, game edition of Cute Girl tried to jump, but couldn’t quite follow through behind – instead, the pair did a slow-mo scramble and then put back down, picking up 20 penalties. They regrouped and finished in fine style, but although there’s so many net positives to take away from their performances through the week, the disappointment of missing out on a top ten finish is, no doubt, a hard weight to carry for today.
But consider: Hallie and Cute Girl were last-minute call-ups to the team; their preparation was, as such, not totally ideal, with the mare having spent some time at stud for an embryo transfer after the second of her four-star wins this season. It’s a first time at Aachen for both; the biggest pressure-cooker of intensity, too, for the young horse. And none of that got to her – instead, she’s thrived all week, shown that she’s every inch a world class horse, and, unfortunately, had a deeply frustrating, but not at all disheartening, 20 penalties. We look forward to seeing them back here, and on the US team, very soon – because something big and brilliant will be on the horizon for them.
Ian Cassells and Millridge Atlantis. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Team Ireland spent the first two phases sitting in fifth place, but ultimately finished third after some excellent rounds today. They were led by Ian Cassells and Millridge Atlantis (11th), who was ably helped to the podium by Joseph Murphy and Calmaro (12th), Sam Watson and Ballyneety Rocketman (23rd), and Austin O’Connor and Isazsa (34th).
“It’s good to be here with two big nations with big budgets – and then there’s us,” laughs Sam Watson. “The point I would make is, our owners that support us, and our personal sponsors, and now we have Agria on board — it makes a big difference. But for me, it’s the guys on the team; the attitude. Austin, we all know, winning the 5* for Ireland [at Maryland], Lucy Latta at Badminton this year, the team winning at Millstreet – Ireland keeps crunching away, and when we can get the support to be as professional and have a system around us [like these teams]…. You know, we didn’t have our team coaches here. We have our manager who keeps us on the straight and narrow, but we couldn’t have our dressage coach and our jumping coach, because we don’t have the budget for it – but we have the attitude and we will always be here.”
And so we come to the end of one of the world’s greatest events, and the end of an era, too: this is the last-ever Aachen for longtime course designer Rüdiger Schwarz, who has been at the helm of the track for two decades. We’ll leave it to his longtime student Julia Krajewski to sum up his impact.
“I would like to also take the opportunity to say some words to Rüdiger,” she says from the winner’s seat at the final press conference. “He probably will not like it, but he also said many things to me that I didn’t want to hear when he trained me! I think for me, Aachen has always been a dream show. It’s been a show where we all, I think, have to ride cross country at our best. We walked the course a few days ago, and there were quite a few said ‘Oh, it’s a bit softer than usual.’ And then again, we look at the scoreboard and we see it’s just been built perfectly. Like, there were some MIMs, some run-outs and people who tried to go fast had to pay the price in the end. You have to ride smart, you have to have your horse balanced, you have to use your brain and in the end, the best riding people are in front, that’s how it should be, and I think Rüdiger has really shaped how many people ride cross country, and he’s shaped how cross country has been built. Aachen has been his signature show for many years and I’m very, very happy that I could do Aachen on his last show.”
Go Eventing – and, forever and always, Go Aachen.
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