For a long time, Sanne Thijssen was in the lead in the RAI Amsterdam Prize, a 1.45m speed class at Jumping Amsterdam. Riding the small, agile Farah Z (by For Pleasure), Sanne was the fifth starter and stopped the clock at 54.70 seconds after a thrilling clear round. One competitor after another then struggled to beat this result. But in the second part of the competition, Michael Greeve gave a masterclass in jumping. The rider from Veeningen showed how to ride turns smoothly and super fast. Greeve won the RAI Amsterdam Prize by riding six instead of seven gallop strides in the final line. This made him the only one to break the 54-second barrier with a time of 53.83 seconds.

Thijssen second and Whitaker third
Sanne Thijssen was thus pushed into second place. Third prize went to Robert Whitaker and Strike A Pose, a son of his own stallion Catwalk. The Brit finished in third place with a clear round in 55.03 seconds.

“I copied Sanne’s technique.”
Michael Greeve: “It was a very fast round. I had seen Sanne, and she was already going quite fast. I know that my horse is also very fast. I copied Sanne and rode the lines like she did. I made one less gallop jump than her, and that won us the victory. Rubens felt really good yesterday too, but I had some bad luck with a double jump. So I started this course feeling confident.”

“Jumping Amsterdam is a party every year”
I’ve only been riding Rubens for a year. When I got him at the stable, he had only jumped 1.35m. He’s definitely a horse with a future. I love riding at Jumping Amsterdam and always look forward to it. It’s a party every year to be here, especially when you win a class.

Photo by Digishots

View all results here

Written by Eline Korving on behalf of Jumping Amsterdam