Fifty-seven athletes represented 12 different countries gathered at the WEC Grand Arena to try their hand at the intricate tracks where twelve found a fault free first round. The twelve returned, and seven yielded clean jump-off rounds, but it was Olympic rider Andre Thieme (GER) and his own Conacco (Conoglio x Chacco Osiris) that earned a sweet victory.

Geoffrey Galant, Vice President of MARS Equestrian spoke about the night, “It was a great evening. You couldn’t pick a better night with a better venue for MARS Incorporated. The night showcased all of our brands that we bring to life, Buckeye Nutrition on the horse side and our lovely Ethel M. Chocolates. We couldn’t be more proud to be here tonight as the title sponsor.”

Andre and Conacco were one of the last few pairs down the ramp into the WEC Grand Arena, generating a superb first round in 84.217 seconds, just within the time allowed of 86 seconds.

Andre took his hat off to the course designers, “There were nearly 60 horses in the class, and knowing that the course designer couldn’t build the track any larger, I knew that this course was going to be a tough job to do it right. The course was technical enough, had a perfect time allowed that made you have to hustle, it was big and spooky. In the end, 12 clear rounds out of 60 is the perfect result.”

Andre and the talented 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding were the last pair to return for the jump-off, “I watched everybody on the big screen in the schooling area, so I was able to count their strides and watch their tracks. I saw Sharn [Wordley] go and I thought I was going to need to do the inside turn to the yellow stone combination.

“I went into the ring and told myself, that was the plan. Then, I caught jumps one, two and three nice and I made the decision to go around. I did do one less from one to two and to the green vertical in the middle. I also think I left out a stride to the large oxer at the end.”

Andre and Conacco soared over the final MARS Equestrian oxer to stop the timers at 42.368 seconds to snag the victory. “I have done two grands prix here this season with the same horse, knowing that I wanted to do this class. When I first showed him in this arena, he was very impressed by it all, so I knew what I was coming into tonight,” Andre said.

"I had the privilege of going to the Olympics this past year and I have to say, this is the only other place that I remember having a venue like the Olympics. The jumps, lights, décor and water features are all just so impressive. It is an incredible feeling to show here. I am beyond thrilled that my horse who is not that experienced yet, took it that well and did such an amazing job tonight.”