The show-jumper Ludger Beerbaum and the dressage star Matthias Alexander Rath were clad in the right clothes: In the run-up to the World Equestrian Festival, CHIO Aachen 2010, they tried on the new CHIO Aachen Collection. Wearing the right attire, they talked about their pleasant anticipation for the equestrian show that begins on Friday.
In addition to the two of them, 355 other athletes from 24 nations will be competing in Aachen. Together with 519 horses they will be participating in the five disciplines jumping, dressage, eventing, four-in-hand driving and vaulting. 350,000 guests are expected to visit the traditional grounds of the Soers in Aachen, which have enjoyed a top reputation for years, also on an international basis. Here top sport and a folk festival go hand in hand.
Michael Mronz, General Manager of the Aachener Reitturnier GmbH, announced the goods news straight away: Tickets are still available for all disciplines. Some categories are indeed already sold out, but there are even still a few tickets available for genuine highlights such as the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup, part of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™, on Thursday evening, (July 15th ) or for the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, (July 13th).
Together with the show-jumper Ludger Beerbaum and the German dressage shooting star, Matthias Alexander Rath, the organisers presented the plans for the CHIO Aachen 2010. Frank Kemperman, Chairman of the CHIO organisers, Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV), announced happily: “The best athletes in the world will be competing in all of the disciplines – whereby this applies for both the horses and the athletes.“ Over the days of the show 107 hours of sport will be offered, 519 horses and 357 competitors from 24 nations will be taking part.
In the show-jumping the situation is similar to the football: The German team including Ludger Beerbaum, Marcus Ehning and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum have very good chances of taking the title. They are expected to top the rankings in both the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup and in the Rolex Grand Prix, the Grand Prix of von Aachen. Even if Ludger Beerbaum sees other people at the top of his list: ”The European Champion, Kevin Staut, is very strong, and one should never underestimate the World Champion, Jos Lansink.“
The same applies for the eventers where a further parallel can be drawn to football: They are also top-class at celebrating. Let’s wait and see whether they have reason to do so again in 2010. Since eventing was added to the CHIO programme in 2007, the winners have always been German.
The favourites in the dressage are quite clear: “It will be almost impossible to beat the Dutch,” remarked Matthias Alexander Rath. Above all Edward Gal with his “super horse” Totilas is presently riding in a league of his own. The pair that is clearly dominating everything at the moment, will be competing at the Soers for the first time ever on Thursday, there are still plenty of tickets for this competition.
The organisers have sold around 200,000 tickets so far, informed Michael Mronz, General Manager of the Aachener Reitturnier GmbH. The budget is once again 10.3 million Euros, the overall prize-money amounts to 1.73 million Euros, “this corresponds to a slight increase compared to the previous year,“ Mronz noted. An additional general sponsor, the Arabian company Meydan, was presented a few weeks ago, during yesterday’s discussion in the Town Hall Mronz introduced the airline “Air Berlin” as a further sponsor of the CHIO Aachen.
As well as the traditional sporting highlights, the organisers have come up with something special for 2010: The NRW Cart Horse Day on Friday, July 16th. Tickets for the jumping and dressage on this day are also valid for the driving arena, where a family show and breeding programme focusing on the likeable and popular heavy horses will be staged.
“It is something for the whole family, in other words typical CHIO,“ commented ALRV President, Klaus Pavel. It is also typical CHIO that the Wohnwelt Pallen Marathon on Saturday afternoon (July 17th) is “für ömme“, i.e. free of charge. A further spectacular highlight is the eventers’ cross-country competition over the Soers course on Saturday morning.
Pavel also drew our attention to a further climax: The Opening Ceremony, which will be characterised by this year’s partner state North-Rhine Westphalia. According to the ALRV President “a super event, we are particularly delighted that the Federal Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, will be officially opening the show.“ During the Opening Ceremony the Minister of Employment and Social Affairs, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, will also be decorated with the “Silver Horse” in the category personalities. “She has contributed so much towards the equestrian sport,” noted Pavel.
Once again Mercedes-Benz is organising the exclusive chauffeur service during the show and will be making 40 vehicles available. Matthias Hindemith, Director of the subsidiary in Aachen, handed over the key to Klaus Pavel. On this occasion Hindemith recalled an old quote, “Loyalty doesn’t just mean staying somewhere, it also means returning again and again.“ Mercedes-Benz has been returning to the Soers for 56 years, “a lively partnership”, commented Hindemith.
The equestrian show already kicks off on Friday with the vaulting competitions in the Albert-Vahle Arena. There are still tickets left for Friday, July 9th, however the “Vaulting Weekend“ from July 10th-11th, is unfortunately already sold out. Nevertheless, it is certainly still worthwhile visiting the Soers on Sunday, July 11th, because the entertaining equestrian programme of the traditional “Soers Sunday presented by Warsteiner“, the unofficial Open Day with free entry, starts at 11.30 a.m. One day later on Monday, July 12th, the citizens from Aachen welcome “their” CHIO again.
The partner state, NRW, will be presenting itself at the Aachen market square, “among others we are looking forward to welcoming the NRW State Stud from Warendorf,“ commented Aachen’s Lord Mayor, Marcel Philipp, who promised a great atmosphere and an enthusiastic reception for the athletes and horses as always.
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