Marcus Ehning and Funky Fred at CHIO Rotterdam.
You can tell the look of one smooth, quick in the jumpoff when Marcus Ehning has a competition neatly wrapped up. The German veteran controlled the jumpoff of the Rabobank Championship of Rotterdam in flawless style aboard Funky Fred at CHIO Rotterdam, taking the winner’s share of €50,000 in prize money. Ehning owns Funky Fred, a 12-year-old Westfalian stallion (For Pleasure x Pilot).
Ehning’s competitors in the jumpoff competition were few, but with Marcus Ehning and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson on his heels, it was not a soft competition. Forty-eight entries took on the 1.55m course, but only four went clear to move on for top placings. The Netherlands’ Aniek Poels was thrilled with an impressive clear aboard Barry White 3 in Round 1, but one down in the jumpoff meant she’d finish 4th. American rider Wilton Porter also went clear in Round 1 with an impressive ride aboard Delinquent JX, but a time fault kept him from the jumpoff.
With Thursday’s heat wave a distant memory, CHIO Rotterdam showed its more typical self on Saturday, June 24, 2017 with cold temperatures and constant rainshowers.
Marco Kutscher had to battle a bit of weather during his jumpoff with Balermo, and his time of 41.19 seconds was just a bit slower than Ehning’s 40.11. And last to go Bengtsson of Sweden was nearly home clear with a win, but four faults at the last fence meant a 3rd place finish for him.
The skies are meant to clear for Sunday afternoon’s Grand Prix Port of Rotterdam CHIO5*, and the class is an unmissable one as it always serves up high drama and unexpected results.
See the complete results of the Rabobank Championship of Rotterdam at this link.