Aachen, 05. July 2008

Philips Prize Freestyle: Victory goes to Anky van Grunsven
Best German rider was Klaus Husenbeth with Piccolino

Anky van Grunsven reacted to her victory in the Philips Prize, Grand Prix Freestyle CDI on IPS Painted Black with mixed feelings. The Olympic gold medallist received 76.8 percent on the 11-year-old KWPN stallion IPS Painted Black by Gribaldi/Ferro at the World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen. "I was pleased that we made no mistakes. But Painted Black's head carriage was not good the whole time, which bothered me somewhat. I think it resulted from his inner tension," said the mother of two, who had chosen tango music for her freestyle routine. Second place went to the Belgian rider Stefan van Ingelgem with the black stallion Withney van't Waaihof - the pair was awarded a score of 72.95 percent. Ingelgem last competed at the CHIO in the nineties. The 47-year-old runs a riding centre in Paars, Belgium and has been riding the graded Ferro son, who is accredited in Belgium as an elite stallion for five years. "He has got a very strong character, already performed FEI tests as a six-year-old and won six Intermediaire I competitions at the age of seven," Ingelgem reported.

The top placed German rider in the competition was Klaus Husenbeth with Piccolino, his gold medallist World Championship horse from Jerez (2002). The16-year-old Hanoverian-bred gelding by Prince Thatch xx scored 72.50 percent, which put the pair into third place. Anja Plönzke came fourth with her Trakehner stallion Tannenhof's Solero TSF with a score of 70.7 percent. Her music comprised of a mixture of melodies from Eminem and Michael Jackson. "I was satisfied with Solero, he made two mistakes, but that was okay. However, I was disappointed with my score," the 39 year old said. "Solero couldn't compete last year at all because he had an operation. He has only been competing again since May."

Opening hours of the CHIO Aachen 2008 ticket sales:
Sunday, 06.07.2008 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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