Michael Greeve speeds to victory in the Boels Prize
Michael Greeve heeft de Boels Prize gewonnen. Met Rubens, het paard waarmee hij eerder dit jaar Nederlands kampioen werd, wist hij na een spannende barrage ook de 5* springrubriek van de zaterdag van het CHIO Rotterdam 2026 te winnen. Met zijn negenjarige ruin Rubens (v. Luganer) kwam hij in de barrage. over de finish in de razendsnelle tijd van 40.14 seconden.
He finished well ahead of Belgian rider Annelies Vorsselmans and her eleven-year-old mare C. Kulottie W Z (by Comme Il Faut), who clocked in at 46.04 seconds. Third place also went to the Netherlands; Elize van de Mheen and the eleven-year-old gelding Kes TN (also a descendant of Comme Il Faut) stopped the clock at 46.14 seconds. Nine combinations had qualified for the jump-off of this 5* class over 1.50m.
One less stride
Michael: “To be honest, I went into this class to win. Rubens was already fault-free in the qualification, where we finished sixth, so this was my plan. However, you still have to pull it off, and when you do manage to win, it’s absolutely amazing. My plan for the jump-off went exactly as I wanted; it was perfect from the first line. I was even able to do one less stride there, and everything else went exactly as I had imagined. Plus, Rubens is naturally very fast. I was the second rider in the jump-off and realized even then that there wasn't much room for anyone to set a faster time.”
Extra special atmosphere
“Winning is always fun, but taking a victory here in Rotterdam is extra special for me. I used to run around here as a little boy and rode my pony here, so to take a victory at the very highest level is very special. Tomorrow I will ride the Grand Prix with Denver, and yesterday I watched the Longines League of Nations; I am enjoying this wonderful event. The atmosphere is great, and there was already a large crowd present on Thursday.”