Christian Kukuk’s baby daughter arrives in time for his $750,000 win

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 [WEF] – for the second year running, the night after he and his partner Veronica Tracy, welcomed their daughter Lilahinto the world.

Magical night for Christian Kukuk and Checker 47 as they soaked up the ‘Saturday Night Lights’ atmosphere. Photo: Wellington International

“It’s like last year it was so special with the Olympics and it keeps going,” said Christian, who sandwiched an individual Olympic Gold Medal in Paris with Checker between their two Wellington Rolex wins. “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.”

Inaugural win for the US Equestrian Open Jumping final combined with the Rolex Grand Prix. Photo: Wellington International

Forty entries took the ‘Saturday Night Lights’ arena 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,” Laura said in the build up.

Crowd favorite Laura Kraut took the lead in the jump off aboard Bisquetta. Photo: Wellington International

Christian, 35, and 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 Laura and Ashlee, with a time of 39.2 seconds.

Wetting the baby’s head with podium champagne. Photo: Wellington International

Money was a theme of the night with six of the world’s top 10 ranked riders vying for the checks. Ireland’s Jordan Coyle summed it up prior to the jump off when he 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,” the Irishman 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.

The 10,000 plus crowd of spectators enjoyed the meet and greet. Photo: Wellington International

Christian 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. “The crowd, the atmosphere, that is something very special,” Christian 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.”

Major moment for Christian Kukuk at Wellington International. Photo: Wellington International

This year the class also counted for the newly-founded US Equestrian Open Jumping final, giving Christian the inaugural title of the contest. That, combined with the Rolex Grand Prix win and the birth of his daughter, will make this year particularly memorable for Christian who planned to revisit mother and baby as soon as the post-Grand Prix interviews were over. “For me, this means so much today because Veronica is in the hospital and we got our newborn daughter Lilah this morning at 1am,” Christian said. “I can’t wait to see them again.”

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