Harm Lahde in Total Command of the €105,500 PKO Bank Polski Grand Prix of Kraków CSI 4*-W

By Jumper News on 2025-02-23

Kraków, Poland– February 23, 2025 – Germany’s Harm Lahde (GER) won the PKO Bank Polski Grand Prix of Cavaliada Kraków CSI 4*-W – and thus the entire 2024/2025 Cavaliada Tour. The €105,500 PKO Bank Polski Grand Prix CSI 4*-W, under the patronage of the Mayor of the City of Kraków, gathered 38 horse-and-rider combinations the starting list.

It was a competition counting for the world ranking, the FEI World Cup Central European League Final and for the Cavaliada Tour. The course designer, Gérard Lachat (SUI) – the same who will be working at the FEI World Cup Final in
Basel in a few weeks’ time – did not set an easy task for the riders.

“The course was extremely demanding – the drawing required full concentration and the time allowed further enforced a high pace. It is difficult for me to point out which element was the most difficult, as poles fell at every point. However, the class was appropriate to the level of the competition and the semi-finals held and effectively selected the best and allowed others to gather valuable experience. Gérard did a really good job throughout the whole show.” – said Szymon Tarant – sports director of the Cavaliada Tour.

**Harm Lahde** (GER) & **Oak Grove’s** **Commander Bond**

In the end, five pairs qualified for the jump-off. In the final barrage, the pair of Germany’s Harm Lahde (GER) and Oak Grove’s 12-year-old stallion Commander Bond galloped to victory for the second time during this year’s Cavaliada Kraków.

“There were only 5 of us in the jump-off and I wanted to be as fast as possible, but there was no clears before me so I had to keep the poles up – it was a bit of a calculation of how fast I could go but not have a knockdown. I was worried about Amanda’s ride because she is always very fast, especially with this horse, but today we managed to win. I’m definitely going to miss Cavaliada, for us it’s not an ordinary competition. We really enjoy coming to each of the Tour locations because it’s always fantastic. Everything is top-notch here – the ground, the course designers, the prize pool, the fans – I could go on for another ten minutes about it.’ – Harm Lahde (GER) said.

**Amanda Slagter** (NED) & **Cornet Blue PS**

Riding as the last to go, Amanda Slagter (NED) with Cornet Blue PS finished in second place as the only other combination with a clean scorecard.