By Sarah Eakin
Sharing a champagne celebration on the podium after winning the $750,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open CSI5* Grand Prix was one way of “wetting the baby’s head” for Germany’s Christian Kukuk. He and Checker 47 won the title — the grand finale of the Winter Equestrian Festival and the first stop of 2025 on the prestigious Rolex Equestrian Series — for the second year running, on the night after he and his partner Veronica Tracy welcomed their daughter Lilah into the world.
Forty entries took to the Saturday Night Lights arena on March 29 in front of 10,000-plus spectators. Crowd favorite, USA’s Laura Kraut, took the lead in the jump off aboard Bisquetta, finishing in 39.49 seconds, after Ashlee Bond and Donatello 141, first to go, set the bar in a time of 40.41.
“It’s $750,000 tonight. You’ve got to put the pedal down, so I’ll go as fast as I can,” Kraut said in the buildup.
Kukuk, 35, and the 15-year-old German-bred Westphalian gelding Checker 47, were the penultimate pair in the eight-strong jump off, taking the lead in front of Kraut and Bond, with a time of 39.2 seconds.
Money was a theme of the night, with six of the world’s top 10 ranked riders — including world No. 1, Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann — vying for the big checks.
Ireland’s Jordan Coyle summed it up prior to the jump off when asked what the attraction was in competing. “If you ask anyone, if they’re being honest, they’ll say it’s for the money. It’s really good money, the best money of the season, so for sure everyone’s building up for that,” Coyle said.
The night paid off when, last to go in the jump off, he and Chaccolino finished fourth, taking home $75,000 from the pot.
Kukuk and Checker’s partnership of four years brought them to Wellington International for the first time last year when they won the Rolex Grand Prix in the last week of the 2024 Winter Equestrian Festival. “The crowd, the atmosphere, that is something very special,” Kukuk said. “And it’s one of the toughest competitions in the year. It was a really strong Grand Prix, the best riders in the world were here. It was a super competitive jump off. I will never forget that.”
Their journey then took the pair to Paris, where they won the individual gold medal in the show jumping. For Kukuk, the accolades keep on coming. The Rolex Grand Prix combined with the newly founded US Equestrian Open Jumping Final, giving Kukuk the inaugural title of the contest. That, combined with the Rolex Grand Prix win and the birth of the baby, will make this year particularly memorable.
“It’s like last year, it was so special with the Olympics, and it keeps going,” said Kukuk in the aftermath of his victory. “And honestly, I don’t really know what to say. Besides, I think we should all say hello to Veronica. She really wanted to be here today. And then Lilah decided to come a day earlier rather than wait until after the Grand Prix.”
Wellington International President Michael Stone summed up the prestige and popularity of the night. “Seeing the crowds turn out for those athletes proves that we are accomplishing our goal of bringing the sport to everybody,” he said. “The quality of riders we have now is amazing, with Olympic champions and world No. 1. It’s a sport that everyone can be part of and to be able to help grow that makes Wellington International very proud.”
Read more by equestrian writer Sarah Eakin at www.paperhorsemedia.com.
