Germany’s Weather Forecast For Mexico City: 100% Chance of Champagne

Check in on your German friends today and make sure they’ve recovered from the tacos and tequila in Mexico City as they had quite a few excuses to celebrate over the weekend.

In today’s issues, we’ll discuss:

• A very happy German

• A very happy German team

• A different happy German (and a Brit that crashed the German party)

But first, here’s the trivia of the week:

Germany’s Weather Forecast For Mexico City: 100% Chance of Champagne

David Will might not have envisioned himself wearing a wide-brimmed sombrero in his finest career highlight to date, but the 35 year old German looked like Cinco de Mayo came early as he enthusiastically accepted the gold medal for the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Mexico City last weekend.

This was Will’s first Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix win, and it was no easy task as the starting field of 37 entries included 11 other LGCT winners.

Nevertheless, he and the 11 year old Belgian Warmblood, My Prins van Dorperheide, are proving to be formidable competition as they also placed fifth just last weekend in Miami Beach Grand Prix.

Finishing right behind Will by just 0.41 seconds was Sweden’s Malin Baryard aboard H&M Indiana, and Laura Kraut took the third and final spot on the podium after a textbook double clear round with her ever-steady Hannovarian gelding, Baloutinue.

As Kraut received the full blast of Will’s champagne shower following the award ceremonies (and probably regretted removing her sombrero), Baryard had good reason for fleeing the scene.

Baryard still had one more picture to take as her second place finish was just enough to catapult her to the top of the leaderboard and secure the top spot in the overall LGCT rankings.

However, she’s no stranger to podium posing as she’s also the correct answer to our trivia question!

Risenbeck International’s Curse Has Lifted

Joining the Risenbeck International team is proving to be about as dangerous as accepting the jinxed Defense Against the Dark Arts job at Hogwarts.

Rewinding to the opening leg of 2023’s GCL in Doha, Ludger Beerbaum was first put out of commission due to a thigh injury when his horse stumbled during the1.45m class.

Nevertheless, team members (and fellow Beerbaum stable teammates) Philipp Weishaupt and Christian Kukuk stepped up to the challenge and delivered impressive rounds to earn Risenbeck International the top spot on the GCL leaderboard.

However, misfortune struck again just days later when Philipp Weishaupt was put out of action due to a gardening accident that involved a hedge, a dog, and an athlete that is better suited to jump on horseback than on foot.

Risenbeck International entered Mexico City in the 4th position on the GCL leaderboard and 25-year old Philipp Schulze Topphoff had big shoes to fill as he substituted for Weishaupt. Despite this pressure, Topphoff was more than up to the challenge and delivered a faultless round on Clemens de la Lande.

Following Topphoff’s outstanding round, teammate Christian Kukuk piloted superstar Mumbai to another double clear that helped Risenbeck International clench the top spot on the GCL leaderboard once more with a total of 70 points.

This slid Madrid In Motion down to second place on the leaderboard with a total of 67 points and the St Tropez Pirates claimed the third position with 63 points.

Hopefully the Risenbeck International curse has lifted for good this time as they prepare for the next leg of the competition in Madrid.

Other Noteworthy Wins of Mexico City

Mumbai Delivers

As if the Germans needed yet another excuse to celebrate, Mumbai’s impressive performance with Christian Kukuk to win the €153,000 Trofeo Banorte 1.55m jump-off class definitely deserved another round of tacos and tequila shots.

The day before, this duo delivered a double clear round that helped Risenbeck International secure the top spot on the GCL leaderboard, but Mumbai wasn’t quite done wowing his fans.

Kukuk made a daring decision to turn inside the Longines finishing timer in the jump-off, and an act of outstanding athleticism from Mumbai got them through the challenging double combination to finish a second faster than second place finisher, Yuri Mansur.

You can watch their round here:

Reminiscing of the daring turn that probably made his mom cover her eyes, Kukuk said, “I took a big risk to the double in the jump-off and I was really lucky… Mumbi tried his heart out for me. It was a fast jump-off and we are in the form of our life at the moment.”

If you hadn’t guessed, he’s also the trivia winner of the week as we found his philosophy quite fitting:

A Brit Crashes The German Party

One of the few people that managed to disrupt the German party in Mexico City was Scott Brash as he stole the Mercedes Benz CSI 1.50M Two Phase with Hello Mr President.

He and the 14 year old gelding delivered an outstanding performance that put them roughly one second ahead of second place finisher, Nina Mallevaey and Crack d'La Rousserie.

To make the victory even sweeter, Brash headed back to the hotel to enjoy an epic equine-themed cake… and while he didn’t specify, we want to know if it was a German chocolate cake courtesy of leftovers from the German’s party.

Other News of The Week

Maluma’s Take

The musicians performing at the LGCT event this weekend probably felt an extra dose of pressure as Maluma himself came out to watch the event.

While we didn’t get his take on the music, he did seem to enjoy the course walk:

The FEI Sports Forum

This week, the FEI Sports Forum commences and one of the primary topics is equine welfare. The Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Committee put forward a list of 24 recommendations that are designed to improve Animal Welfare.

“I am confident that I speak for each and every one of us in the equestrian community when I say that at heart, all we want is what is best for our equine partners,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said.

Another primary topic of discussion was the FEI’s latest technological innovations. Among the latest releases include a new FEI Tack App, which is “the go-to destination for all pieces of tack and equipment related to horses and athletes for all FEI disciplines,” and new digital vaccination recording.

Ashlee Bond Cashes Another Fat Check

Ashlee Bond’s 2024 tax return is going to include a lot of prize money line items as she and Donatello added the $146,000 Palm Beach County Sports Commission Grand Prix to their ever growing list of accomplishments.

A few of this pair’s other impressive accomplishments include the $4,320,000 GNP Seguros Grand Prix CSI 5 and the $75,000 CSI5* WEF Challenge Cup Round 7.

Richard Howley and Consulent de Prelet Z Prove Unbeatable

In the final week the Spring MET IV 2023 in Olivia Nova, Spain, Richard Howley and Consulent de Prelet Z emerged victorious from a field of 54 to win the CSI3* 1.50m CHG Grand Prix.

They were the first of 14 to go in the jump-off and posted an outstanding time of just 37.33 which proved unbeatable by the next 13 horse and rider combinations.

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