Aachen, 01. July 2008

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum wins the STAWAG-Prize
The European Champion rode to victory ahead of Roger-Yves Bost

It was the wink of an eye - or as Course Designer Frank Rothenberger worked it out: 5.13 cm. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Thedinghausen) was only one hundredths of a second faster than Roger-Yves Bost, who had led the field until then. The European Champion won the STAWAG Prize this afternoon at the Soers with a clear round on the 13-year-old gelding in a time of exactly 76 seconds ahead of the French rider on Ideal de la Loge, followed by Christoph Brüse, the 21-year-old rider from Wachtberg, Rhineland, who took 76.73 seconds for his round on Audrey.

"I didn't know that the time was so tight, so I even pulled him up a bit before the last fence," beamed Michaels-Beerbaum, who went down in history three weeks ago in Balve as the first lady ever to win the German Masters title in the mixed field on Checkmate , who is in absolute top form. "I am lucky enough to have two excellent horses, Checkmate and Shutterfly. I am planning to ride Shutterfly in the Nations' Cup on Thursday and in the Grand Prix on Sunday." Michaels-Beerbaum, who won the World Cup Final in April is considered to have a definite place on the team for the Olympic Games in Hong Kong.

Roger-Yves Bost will however have to watch the Games on TV, because the French team, which was also relegated from the Super League, weren't able to qualify for the Olympic Games. "This is a difficult situation for the French show-jumping sport," said Bost with regret, who together with his fellow countryman, Michel Robert, is competing in Aachen as an individual rider. The 42-year-old and his horses proved to be in fantastic form on the first day of the CHIO: In addition to taking second place in the STAWAG Prize, he already won the first jumping competition, the accom Prize, this morning. "I hope this is how things carry on and that my success curve continues to rise," said the French rider, who came second in the Rolex Grand Prix, the Grand Prix of Aachen last year with Ideal de la Loge. The CHIO Aachen is only the sixth tournament for his 12-year-old stallion after a long period of injury. Shortly before the European Championships in August 2007 in Mannheim, he had to undergo an operation due to an intestinal obstruction and couldn't compete for eight months as a result.

The route to Prague runs via Aachen for Christoph Brüse, since the 21-year-old who was already decorated with a gold medal at the European Championships, has already been nominated for the European Championships of the Young Riders with Audrey and Atlanta. "After the CHIO I will decide together with the national coach, Dietmar Gugler, which horse I will ride at the European Championships. But Audrey is definitely my top horse." Even though Brüse was third in the starting order he managed to achieve a very fast time. "I had a good feeling round the course. I couldn't watch beforehand to see what difficulties it presented, but perhaps that was a good thing. I certainly didn't expect to come third," grinned Brüse, who made his debut appearance at the World Equestrian Festival last year for the first time.

Opening hours of the CHIO Aachen 2008 ticket sales:
Tuesday, 01.07.2008 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday, 02.07.2008 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday, 03.07.2008 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday, 04.07.2008 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday, 05.07.2008 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday, 06.07.2008 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Ticket hotline: +49-(0)241-917-1111