Ludger Beerbaum with Chiara wins the Grand Prix Competition S12 CSI5 Star © CHI Al Shaqab / Stefano Grasso
Three days of CSI5* competition in Doha, Qatar culminated on Saturday, March 5th with an all-German podium amid the main arena of the sweeping Al Shaqab equestrian facility.
Course designer Frank Rothenburger set a championship track that whittled an entry list of 43 pairs down to 20 who returned for a full Round 2. From there, just five riders who had jumped clear in both rounds moved on to a jumpoff for the top prize money check of €165,000.
While Nicola Philippaerts of Belgium, and Luciana Diniz of Portugal both tacked up for the jumpoff round, it would be a German stronghold that prevailed, led by veteran of the sport Ludger Beerbaum.
Aboard Chiara, a 13-year-old grey Holsteiner mare (Contender X Cornado), Beerbaum deuled it out with countrymen Daniel Deusser and Christian Ahlmann. Deusser, who was aboard the 11-year-old Belgian gelding First Class van Eeckelghem (Balou Du Rouet x Feinschnitt I Vd Richter), crossed the finish timers in 49.02 seconds, which wasn’t quite enough to top Beerbaum’s tie of 48.81. Christian Ahlmann would finish 3rd on a faster time of 47.84 seconds, albeit with a single rail down. He was riding his top horse Codex One, a 14-year-old Hannoverian stallion (Contendro I x Glueckspilz).
Full results can be found at this link.