European champion Richard Vogel secured a home victory at the show jumping Grand Prix in Aachen. With his Olympic stallion United Touch, the 29-year-old remained faultless in both rounds. José Maria Larocca from Argentina was 1.79 seconds slower on Finn Lente. Sophie Hinners came third with Iron Dames Singclair and rounded off the strong German result as another local hero.
“I’m overwhelmed right now,” Vogel told “WDR”. For many weeks he had been eyeing victory in Aachen, where the World Championships will also take place from August 11th to 23rd. “This is a moment that only comes once in a lifetime,” said Vogel, who held his own against the best riders in the world.
Second victory at Grand Slam tournament
With the triumph, Vogel received a bonus in the Grand Slam rankings because he had already won the Dutch Masters in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in March. So he already has 500,000 euros secure. With further victories at the Grand Slam tournaments in Calgary and Geneva, the bonus could even increase to two million euros.
However, the traditional event was not allowed to bear the well-known name CHIO because, due to the upcoming World Cup, only a smaller tournament took place without team competitions for national teams.
