One of the highlights of the German Masters in Stuttgart is the Indoor Derby on Wednesday. It is a real spectator magnet on the first day. The Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle shook as the participants swept through the lightning-fast build up cross-country course after the show programme. It was a Hannoveraner double victory. The Firth of Lorne/Phantom daughter For Ever Pleasure N and Pia Schmülling, who set the best time at their first indoor start, were celebrated frenetically by the audience. The chestnut mare, only 1.62 metres tall and bred by Pia Schmülling’s mother Heike Neukötter, had won team bronze with the German team at the European Championships in Montelibretti/ITA as German Vice Champion of the Young Riders. “I’d never been to Stuttgart before, but when I came in, the atmosphere was immediately buzzing and I was really keen to ride,” said the overjoyed winner from East Frisia.
Second place went to Quick Fiddlestick by Quality/Bold Indian xx (breeder: Manfred Kregel, Laatzen) and Julien Despontin from Belgium. Also competing in Stuttgart for the first time was the Hannoveraer cross-country horse championesse from 2021, Peppermint Patty FRH by Perigueux/Contendro (breeder: Diedrich Meyer, Köhlen). As the youngest participant, she galloped to a brilliant sixth place with Germany’s Jan Matthias.
