{"id":25258,"date":"2021-12-13T14:57:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T13:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/?p=25258"},"modified":"2021-12-20T15:52:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T14:52:38","slug":"schulze-topphoff-takes-la-coruna-by-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/schulze-topphoff-takes-la-coruna-by-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Schulze Topphoff takes La Coru\u00f1a by storm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-rv7xt6-60ba76d96ba47c39810bb4d923ebfc1f\">\n.flex_column.av-rv7xt6-60ba76d96ba47c39810bb4d923ebfc1f{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-rv7xt6-60ba76d96ba47c39810bb4d923ebfc1f av_one_full  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  first flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding  '     ><p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-kx4qm22m-b4aafe6d80331470ac7f0bcf1ceefd43\">\n.avia-image-container.av-kx4qm22m-b4aafe6d80331470ac7f0bcf1ceefd43 img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-kx4qm22m-b4aafe6d80331470ac7f0bcf1ceefd43 .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-kx4qm22m-b4aafe6d80331470ac7f0bcf1ceefd43 av-styling- avia-align-center  avia-builder-el-1  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first '   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-25259 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-25259 avia_image ' src=\"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-1030x667.jpeg\" alt='' title='CSI 5* W  Casas Novas 40th Edition 2021'  height=\"667\" width=\"1030\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-1030x667.jpeg 1030w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-640x415.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-480x311.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-300x194.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-768x498.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-1536x995.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-2048x1327.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-1500x972.jpeg 1500w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-705x457.jpeg 705w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-1210x784.jpeg 1210w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-500x324.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1-MB-Philipp-Schulze-Toffhoff-700x454.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-kx4ql1ps-37ec228499d08b71c34f83bc3fdf88f7 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>On his World Cup debut, 23-year-old German Philipp Schulze Topphoff breezed to victory with a stunning performance from his 11-year-old mare Concordess NRW in La Coru\u00f1a, Spain this evening. This fifth leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup&#x2122; 2021\/2022 Western European League was no walk-in-the-park, and only seven of the 39 horse-and-rider combinations found the key to the first-round track set by Tokyo 2020 Olympic course designer, Spain\u2019s Santiago Varela.<\/p>\n<p>But with all the confidence that goes with youth, and supported by his brilliant grey mare who was clearly unfazed by the task set for her today, Schulze Topphoff produced a foot-perfect run when first to go in the opening round and didn\u2019t flinch when pathfinder against the clock to set a target that couldn\u2019t be bettered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is definitely the biggest win I\u2019ve ever had and I don\u2019t know what to say except I\u2019m really, really happy!\u201d, said the young man who has firmly put himself on the map after today\u2019s brilliant result.<\/p>\n<p>Runner-up spot went to the French partnership of Gregory Cottard and Bibici while Sweden\u2019s Angelica Augustsson-Zanotelli lined up in third ahead of the Ireland\u2019s Mikey Pender and HHS Calais in fourth place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Curiosity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When the first horse goes clear in any competition there is always a curiosity about whether the track will jump easily, but today was a perfect example of the opposite. Varela\u2019s test demanded a lot of stride adjustments, and the last three fences on the 13-obstacle first-round course were the undoing of many.<\/p>\n<p>There was little room for error of line on the tight left-hand turn off the side of the arena to the oxer at fence eleven, and many riders had to increase acceleration on the approach to make it work. Subsequently the following vertical with a delicate white plank on top, jumped off a curving right-hand bend, often came up awkwardly and if balance wasn\u2019t quickly re-established then the final oxer was the heart-breaker as it hit the floor.<\/p>\n<p>That plank proved the undoing of Schulze Topphoff\u2019s compatriot and three-time Longines FEI Jumping World Cup&#x2122; champion Marcus Ehning whose lovely stallion, Stargold, clipped it in an otherwise perfect round. And the Dutch partnership who came out on top at the last fixture at the Casas Novas Equestrian Centre in La Coru\u00f1a two years ago, Maikel van der Vleuten and Beauville Z who together clinched individual bronze in Tokyo this summer, looked well on the way to a place in the jump-off until coming adrift over those final two fences.<\/p>\n<p>Just two riders picked up a single time fault in an otherwise faultless round, and the first of these was Belgium\u2019s Ludo Philippaerts who retired back in 2014 but, now back at the top end of the sport, looked set to make a dramatic statement of intent with his 10-year-old grey, Laurier until over-running the 74 seconds time-allowed. His twin sons, Olivier and Nicola, and his nephew Pieter Clemens were also in action today, but the only Belgian contender to make the cut into the second-round decider was Jos Verlooy who eventually finished fifth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Threw it down<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First against the clock, Schulze Topphoff really threw it down to the rest of them when turning tight inside the final fence on the new course en route to the second fence. He said afterwards that he \u201clost a bit of time\u201d after the following double but when he scorched through the finish in 37.69 seconds it certainly looked a tough time to beat.<\/p>\n<p>The Netherlands\u2019 Marc Houtzager and Sterrehof\u2019s Dante NOP lowered the second element of the double when next to go, but Augustsson-Zanotelli and the 11-year-old mare Kalinka van de Nachtegaele left all the poles in place to slot temporarily into second spot in 38.39 seconds when following them into the ring.<\/p>\n<p>Cottard then set sail, and despite taking the longer route to the second fence by going around the final oxer, came close to taking over the lead when breaking the beam in 37.78 seconds and moved into runner-up position.<\/p>\n<p>Ireland\u2019s Mikey Pender is always fast, and even though the 10-year-old HHS Calais is a tall, leggy horse he still managed to produce the quickest time, galloping through the timers in 36.08 seconds but carrying four faults when hitting the third-last. With just two left to go, Brazil\u2019s Eduardo Pereira de Menezes was also quick, stopping the clock on 36.92 seconds but dislodging a pole at the second fence along the way.<\/p>\n<p>However\u00a0for last man in, Jos Verlooy, it was even more frustrating when, well up on the clock coming to the last, that fell for four faults which saw him having to settle for that fifth place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nervous<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner, Schulze Topphoff, said tonight that he was more nervous watching the rest trying to beat him than riding his own jump-off round. Talking about Concordess NRW who carried him to individual gold and team bronze at the 2019 FEI European Young Riders Championship, he described her as \u201ca bit of a diva!\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>&#8220;She always has her own ideas &#8211; sometimes she works with me but sometimes I have to go her way, but she\u2019s always really fighting for me, she has a really powerful character!&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Philipp Schulze Topphoff\u00a0(GER)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>said the rider who is based on his family\u2019s small farm near M\u00fcnster in Germany. The pair have been together a long time. \u201cShe is owned by my mother and we have her since she was four years old and she went to her first shows with us. We trust each other, I choose a way to go and she knows I won\u2019t ever ask her to do the impossible. We\u2019ve had a lot of offers to buy her but we are quite happy to keep her for ourselves, she is just great!\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n<p>After a very successful week with a lot of top placings with his talented string of horses at La Coru\u00f1a, today\u2019s winner is now hoping to get the chance to collect some more points towards qualification for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup&#x2122; 2022 Final next April. For now however he and his horses are taking a Christmas break. \u201cWe won\u2019t be in London (GBR) but I\u2019m hoping to get the chance to go to Basel (SUI) and Amsterdam (NED) in January &#8211; we will see\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ireland\u2019s Denis Lynch continues to lead the Western European League table with Brazil\u2019s Pereira de Menezes in second after today\u2019s sixth-place finish while first-round winner, The Netherlands\u2019 Kevin Jochems, lies third going into the London leg which will take place next Sunday, 19 December.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25291,"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25258\/revisions\/25291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jumpingamsterdam.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}