Jumping Indoor Maastricht had a fantastic winner of the Grand Prix in Maikel van der Vleuten with his mare Elwikke.

"Elwikke is a real fighter with incredible quality," he said. The rider from Someren was by far the fastest in the jump-off, in which 14 combinations took part. Maikel's father Eric completed the success in sixth place. Van der Vleuten senior was the second Dutchman in the final results.

Fourteen of the 38 starters qualified for the jump-off by staying clear over the course designed by Quintin Maertens. The Netherlands was represented in it by six riders. The enthusiastic crowd went wild. It went frantic when Maikel van der Vleuten, as twelfth combination, pulverised the leading time of German Hans-Dieter Dreher. Van der Vleuten held on and won the Maastricht Grand Prix for the third time in his successful career. Dreher came second with the powerfully jumping Cous Cous 3. In 2015, the German won the Grand Prix with Colore. Third place was also for a former winner. Belgian Olivier Philippaerts, who won in 2017 with H&M Legend of Love, was now third with H&M Miro.

Ten-year-old Elwikke is a mare with power and scope who is lightning fast thanks to her big canter. On Friday evening, they also won the main class at the Mecc. "It was a great week for me," said the winner. "I had a few weeks with some lesser results. She gives me a lot of confidence to be able to take all the risks in the jump-off."

That paid off for Van der Vleuten with 33,000 euros as the top prize. It was the Elwikke's first victory in a four-star Grand Prix.

(Source: KNHS)