Katrin Eckermann and Forfly Claim Final Victory in Family Triumph

Everyone knows that Katrin Eckermann is one of the fastest riders in the sport, and her talent for producing young horses is equally well established. Once again, the rider from Kranenburg celebrated a family success by winning the final for six-year-old show jumping horses at the Tiemeyer x Hetzel Young Horse Masters with Forfly.

The Westphalian stallion by For the Future out of Vivan van de Heffinck was bred and is owned by Katrin's father, Otmar Eckermann. It was therefore a particularly special moment for Holger Hetzel, Katrin Eckermann's long-time trainer and, together with Frankonia Eurobau AG, sponsor of the final, to congratulate her on the victory in Goch.

It is far from the first time that the Eckermann family has enjoyed success in both sport and breeding. However, breeding top-class sport horses has become increasingly expensive in recent years. Finals carrying prize money at the level of the Tiemeyer x Hetzel Young Horse Masters – with a total of €200,000 across the three age-group finals – therefore provide an extremely attractive platform for breeders and riders alike. Second place also went to a female rider. Pheline Ahlmann from Reher guided the OS gelding Chacco Minelli by Chacco-Blue out of Fortinbras to the runner-up position. The bay gelding is owned by her father, Dirk Ahlmann, while the breeder is Gestüt Erlenhof AG (Rothenberger). Third place was claimed by Lucas Wenz aboard the Holsteiner Verband stallion Union City by United Way out of Connor. The stallion is owned by Holsteiner Hengsthaltungs GmbH and was bred by Alf Bartholomaeus.

The first of the three championship finals at Holger Hetzel's venue in Goch attracted an outstanding field of 43 combinations. Even larger was the second qualifier for the seven- and eight-year-old horses, where 119 combinations competed in the S* class sponsored by Nybor Pferde GmbH & Co. KG.

Once again, Katrin Eckermann topped the leaderboard. Riding the Hanoverian mare Chacoona Cat, the 36-year-old claimed her second qualifier for Sunday's final. Alexa Stais (CYP) finished second with Chacord GB, owned by Schockemöhle Pferdehaltung, while reigning European Champion Richard Vogel secured third place aboard the Hanoverian mare Quelle Mademoiselle. Attention now turns to the remaining championship finals. Sunday's programme begins at 10:00 a.m. with the final for the five-year-old horses, followed by the CSI two-star Grand Tour jump-off competition. The weekend concludes with the eagerly awaited €100,000 final for the seven- and eight-year-old horses, starting at 3:30 p.m.