London, England  – December 17, 2022 – The feature Jumping class on Saturday at the London International Horse Show CSI 5*-W the €51,500 Longines Christmas Cracker CSI 5*-W was a 1.55m jump-off class, featuring seven of the top ten riders in the world as they vied for the jackpot. Bernardo Costa Cabral’s (POR) challenging course resulted in only seven combinations making it through to the jump-off against the clock.

First to go, Max Kühner (AUT), set the pace jumping clear in a time of 33.97 seconds aboard Up Too Jacco Blue (Chacco-Blue x Ard VDL Douglas).

Gerrit Nieberg (GER), riding Ben (Sylvain x Quincy Jones) – the horse he rode to victory in the coveted Grand Prix of Aachen CSIO 5* earlier this year – was faster down to the final vertical to take over the lead, 0.15 seconds quicker than Kühner.

Conor Swail (IRL) and Vital Chance de La Roque (Diamant de Semilly x Rivage du Poncel) put up a good challenge for third, but ultimately could not match Nieberg’s performance, being time in 34.12 seconds for bronze honors.

Nieberg, whose father won The London International Horse Show Grand Prix in 2000, said: “This is my first time at The London International Horse Show, but I will definitely be coming back – it is an amazing feeling to win here, it’s a great Show. My horse was incredible, he is feisty so I have to try and keep him calm, but he always wants to keep the fences up.”

Final Results – €51,500 The Longines Christmas Cracker CSI 5*-W

1) Gerrit Nieberg (GER) & Ben – 0 / 0 – 33.82

2) Max Kuhner (AUT) & Up Too Jacco Blue – 0 / 0 – 33.97

3) Conor Swail (IRL) & Vital Chance de La Roque – 0 / 0 – 34.12

Source: Press Release by Niki McEwen / Revolution World for The London International Horse Show

Photo: © LIHS / Louie Gonzalez

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