Aachen, 03. July 2008

US American Beezie Madden wins the Sparkasse-Youngsters-Cup
Best German rider was Holger Wulschner

"He has got a huge gallop and is very bold," is how the American winner described her horse Danny Boy at the World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen (June 27th - July 6th). Beezie Madden, who won the ROLEX Grand Prix on her World Championship horse Authentic last year, has been riding the 8-year-old Belgian-bred Clinton x Alexis Z son since he was four. In the first leg of the Sparkasse-Youngsters-Cup she completed the course four and a half seconds faster than her fellow competitors'.

Second place went to Holger Wulschner on the Oldenburg stallion FPG Little Liberty. The 8-year-old descends from Liberty Son and he too reached the finishing line clear in a time of 69.53 seconds. Coming third was almost like a late birthday present for Mario Stevens, who celebrated his 26th birthday yesterday. "This is the first time that I have competed in the big tour at the CHIO and I am very satisfied. It is a fantastic feeling riding into the main stadium and Numero Uno performed really well. We bred him ourselves, which makes us even more proud of him," the rider from Molbergen, Lower Saxony, said happily. Incidentally, Stevens took the German Championship title of the Young Riders with Numero Uno's sire, Night and Day, in 2002 and won team gold at the European Championships a year later.

There were 14 clear rounds in total in the Sparkasse-Youngsters-Cup, a competition for seven to eight-year-old horses. The final will be held on Saturday.

Opening hours of the CHIO Aachen 2008 ticket sales:
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