09 Feb VR CLASSICS 2023 – International Jumping Stars
(Neumünster) Back in the Holstenhallen: International show jumping unfolds its appeal again from 16 – 19 February with riders from twelve nations, great horses and top-class competitions. The traditional highlight is the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Grand Prix on Sunday. And: the legendary show competition of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken & easyCredit is also back.
Opening with future prospects
In fact, the first major world ranking jumping competition will already be decided on Friday. On this day, the seven and eight-year-old youngsters will first kick off the Theurer Trucks 2Go Youngster Cup in the Stübben Prize, which comprises a total of three competitions and brings the top youngsters of the international riders to the Holstenhallen. The highlight of the day will then be the Voigt Logistik Cup in a classic, difficult jumping competition after faults and time and there the first points for the world ranking list will be awarded.
The VR CLASSICS offer a total of four world ranking competitions: On Saturday the Championat von Neumünster, which is also the qualification for the eighth and final leg of the BEMER Riders Tour, as well as the Prize of Performance Sales International – the International Jumping Competition with jump-off on the evening of the SWN. The Grand Prix of the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken will then be the highlight with the final competition of the BEMER Riders Tour.
Who is taking part?
From Belgium to Sweden, a total of 12 nations are involved in the VR CLASSICS. In addition to top international riders such as Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (Sweden) or Jur Vrieling from the Netherlands – both of whom have already won Olympic and World Championship medals – Denmark’s Lars Bak Andersen (currently 4th place in the Grand Prix of Bordeaux) and the Derby winner Cassandra Orschel (Sehestedt/Poland) are also expected. Show-jumping fans can also look forward to Douglas Lindelöw (Sweden) or the British rider Robert Whitaker.
The large German contingent is led by the two women who are currently dominating the BEMER Riders Tour: Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann (Pinneberg) and Sophie Hinners (Pfungstadt). They are joined by Hinners’ partner, the serial winner Richard Vogel (Pfungstadt), the former European Champions Marco Kutscher (Bad Essen) and Carsten-Otto Nagel (Lilienthal), the “Rider of the Year” 2021, Patrick Stühlmeyer (Mühlen), Jörg Naeve (Ehlersdorf) and also Philipp Rüping (Steinfeld), who won the Grand Prix of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken in 2017.
PICTURE: One of the world’s best riders is taking part in the VR CLASSICS with Swede Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, here with Clara Faut in the Championships of the Horse City of Neumünster. (Photo: Stefan Lafrentz)