Leopold van Asten riding VDL Groep Miss Untouchable during the Brussels Stephex Masters 2017. ph: Stephex Masters
Coming off of their 1.45m CSI5* win on Friday, August 1, Leopold van Asten of the Netherlands and VDL Groep Miss Untouchable (Chacco-Blue x Aldatus) captured their second win of the week in the CSI5* 1.50m class on Friday at the Brussels Stephex Masters .
“She is amazing,” said Leopold said of VDL Groep Miss Untouchable. “She jumps an unbelievable amount of clear rounds, and she has done a lot of Global Tours this year as a second horse – and done a really good job. She is naturally fast, and I believe a lot in her. Everything she jumped until now, she jumped easy.”
The 1.50m class, which counted towards FEI ranking points, saw 10 entires proceed to the shortened jump off track.
On Uliano Vezzani’s shortened course, VDL Groep Miss Untouchable had no trouble with the twisting track – turning immediately after each jump and then taking the seven strides between the last two jumps to stop the clock at 42.98 seconds.
“My plan was to go for it. She is in a super shape and jumped really well in the first round,” said Leopold. “I knew I had to go for it and take risks, knowing who was coming behind me. Everything went really smooth except the roll-back to the penultimate Rolex oxer; it was a bit hectic – but it was for most the horses. I was a bit worried that I would not make the seven strides to the last jump, but she speeded up well.”
Great Britain’s John Whitaker put in a good effort aboard Argento (Arko III x Gasper), but he was beaten by nearly a second to settle for the 2nd place position. Germany’s Daniel Deusser finished in 3rd aboard Cornet 39 (Cornet Obolensky x Caletto I) with a time of 44.22s.
Van Asten and VDL Groep Beauty will return to compete in the grand prix on Sunday, August 3.
The full results can be viewed here.