Greve won the Gothenburg Trophy after a blazing jump-off

The Gothenburg Trophy is one of the weekend's most prestigious classes, where riders compete over obstacles at the 1.55-meter level. The evening featured a jump-off among eight riders, with Dutchman Willem Greve on his fantastic stallion Highway TN N.O.P. among the first to go.

“I had to put the pressure on the ones that were coming after me. I took risks, but not all the risk, like to the yellow GuldFynd oxer, I had one stride more. Because the two riders before me had both mistakes in that line. And I wanted to make sure, towards the combination, that I didn't take all the risks. For the rest, I was a bit lucky on the second last vertical,  luck was on my side tonight. Yuri Mansur with Vitiki  was faster, but he had the last fence down. So, I'm happy it all came together tonight.” 

The audience were very impressed with the 12 year old stallion Highway TN N.O.P.

“He's an unbelievable horse who also wants to be an unbelievable horse, an extreme fighter, extremely careful and very competitive. And if you see his track record, he's still very young. Highway has been a winner all through his life. And last year, due to an injury on my other horse, Grandorado, Highway stepped up to be number one. He deserved a big victory. I'm very happy that the Grand Prix of Gothenburg is on his list, very proud.” 

The riders after Willem made valiant attempts to be faster, but poles fell and the clock ticked. Peder Fredricson on Alcapone des Camille came closest.

“First of all, I'm really happy with the way the horse Alcapone jumped today. He started a little bit off in the first round, didn't jump great the first couple of fences in the first round, but then he got better and better. In the jump off, I thought he jumped very good. So, I'm happy the way we are developing together, because I know it's a good horse and I'm really happy to have him in the stable.” 

Kim Emmen was the last rider out in the jump-off. In order to secure third place, she had to make a clear round.

“ I am not so fast with my horse as Willem So, when I went in as last one for the jump off, for me the plan was to go for clear. I was still a bit lucky on the last fence. My horse jumped really good and I'm very happy with the result. 

For next year I need to train more with Willem to be faster.”

EquiRatings Diarmuid Byrne on how they are able to predict the winners three nights in a row.  

“It's a weighted algorithm, so more recent form does carry more importance, but it does keep going back through the horse's career even when they have time off.  From past results we know Highway of Willem Greve is in form, but even Peder with a new horse was up there among the combinations with the chance for success as well. 

Horses tend to get new riders so we really focus on the horse hence the name EquiRating and we look at the quality of the performances. 

We see in the sport varying quality in the start fields, depending on where you are in the world and who you're competing against. Gothenburg is a good example. It's very hard to win here. If horses are performing well at these highly competitive shows, their ratings are going to go up and be higher. 

In show jumping when you look at the win chance of the favorites, it's not very high. 

 

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