"The shape is right!"
Day two of the Al Shira'aa German Show Jumping & Dressage Derby 2025 - with a victory for Olympic record holder Isabell Werth, an international podium in show jumping and the Derby preview with André Thieme.
Three derby questions for three-time derby winner André Thieme:
André, you are here in Hamburg with Paule for the third time heading for the Great Jumping Derby and you were clear in the first derby qualifier on Wednesday - how did you feel?
André Thieme:
Yes, Paule actually did pretty well last year, so I want to try the derby with him again and it couldn't have gone better on Wednesday in the first qualifier here. The form is right, that was really very good.
Things were actually going well last year, until...
André Thieme:
Yes, exactly, last year it failed with us because of the railway barriers, otherwise he made everything so easy and super. I've been through the entire Derby preparation with him over the past two years, he knows everything. But this year, of course, I put up the rail barriers, a single pole, from very low to around 1.00 metres high during preparation and only practised this on trust.
Nacorde, Contadur, Paule S - your Derby partners, what makes a good Derby horse?
André Thieme:
Of course, the horse must have a certain basic strength and condition. It must be courageous, because the jumps in the Derby are extraordinarily different. They have to be careful, intelligent - a lot of things come together. And as a rider, experienced riders have an advantage because they stay a bit calmer than the others at the crucial moment and good preparation is very important.
Werth starts victorious in Hamburg
On the second day of the tournament, Thursday, the international dressage riders also joined in the sporting action at the Al Shira'aa German Show Jumping & Dressage Derby. The programme in the Anrecht-Investment dressage arena began with the international small tour, with eight-time Olympic champion Isabell Werth securing the first victory in the saddle on Skovens Tzarina. Werth had already won the final of the Nürnberger Burg-Pokal with the eleven-year-old mare in December 2023. In Hamburg's Prix St. Georges, in the Prize of Anakenenhof, the pair delivered a round today that was scored 74.118 per cent. This meant victory ahead of Greta Heemsoth and Boa Vista FRH with 73.480 per cent.
Belgium ahead of Ireland ahead of Sweden
In Thursday's four-star jumping competition, the RMD Logistic GmbH Prize, Belgian rider Mike van Olst won on Comme Elle Faut Odth Z ahead of Ireland's Emily Turkington on Cornet and Sweden's Rolf-Göran Bengtsson on Caillan. 16 pairs remained clear in this jumping competition, but the 35-year-old van Olst was clearly the fastest in 59.33 seconds.
Welcome Night 2025
With 200 invited guests, the organizer family Linsenhoff-Rath celebrated the start of the Al Shira'aa German Show Jumping & Dressage Derby 2025, their premiere event in Hamburg. Matthias Rath thanked the derby's partners and his team for their incredible commitment, while Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff was particularly pleased to welcome guests of honor such as the 1984 Olympic team dressage champion, Uwe Sauer. Linsenhoff also used the evening to present her project in collaboration with Janina Lin Otto from Hamburg. This is a joint charity campaign by Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff, founder of the Linsenhoff Foundation, and Janina Lin Otto, head of the Holistic Foundation. It's about the ‘Blue Horse’ and the motto: 'Derby of Hearts - Giving Opportunities. Shaping the future. Over the course of the Derby days, the Blue Horse will collect gold-colored handprints from prominent riders and guests of the show, thus increasing its value from day to day and then be sold. All proceeds will go to the Hamburg-based Mamalies project.
(KiK/pe&pa)