It was his second major victory this weekend at his home in the Agravis Cup in Oldenburg: On Sunday, Mario Stevens won the Grand Prix of Oldenburg over 1.55m for the sixth time in the steeplechase on Carrie (v. Christian), after he had already decided the Grand Prix of Oldenburg for himself with Starissa FRH (v. Stakkato Gold) on Saturday. After 35.05 seconds, he finished the shortened course without a fault in the finish this afternoon for the second time.
As the seventh and final starter, Maximilian Lill still tried to challenge him with the eight-year-old stallion Cord Carte (v. A La Carte NRW), but it took him 35.39 seconds to complete his double zero, which meant second place: „Nevertheless, I am super proud of what we achieved here. At first I didn’t want to challenge Mario’s time anymore, but then the ambition still caught up with me,“ he said afterwards. Emelie Pieper finished with Viva (v. Van Halen Z) with the third double zero.
Following this, at the awards ceremony, two sisters with one spring error each in the jumping competition followed: Mylene Nagel on Action Hero FRH (v. Action Blue) ahead of Mynou Diederichsmeier on PB Chakira Z (v. Colore). The Dane Sören Pedersen was sixth with Tailormade Blue Ballon (v. Chacoon Blue) ahead of Henry Vaske on Iska DB (v. Zuccero) from the Holstein breeding of Detlev Behrens.
Kevin Martsch was unlucky: After receiving his Golden Riding Horse award this weekend in Oldenburg, he almost would have been at the coronation with Montanus Culina (v. Unbreakable), but a 33 hundredths too much in the run caused a time error – and thus a place eighth and his role as a spectator at the final.
„It’s so much fun to ride here,“ praised a happy Mario Stevens the organizer, sponsor and the audience at the packed stands of the traditional tournament. „I only noticed the gap after the combination when I was reining in.“ He used it to set the fastest time – just like Maxi Lill at the end, but he needed one more galloping jump on the final line.
The complete result here