Christian Kukuk is Twice a Winner in Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix
German Olympic champion Christian Kukuk won the Rolex Finale at Wellington International for the second consecutive year aboard Checker 47 during the final ‘Saturday Night Lights’ of the 2025 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) season. In front of a sold-out crowd of more than 10,000 fans, the pair repeated history in the $750,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix, the first stop of 2025 on the prestigious Rolex Series Equestrian. Highlighted by 12 weeks of consecutive FEI competition, WEF 2025 concludes on Sunday, March 30 in Wellington, FL.
“This is a story you can’t imagine,” said Kukuk, 35, who spent the morning of the Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix welcoming his first child to the world. “This day is always going to be a very special memory for her birthday. I am the happiest man on the planet tonight.”
Together with his wife and fellow equestrian athlete Veronica Tracy, Kukuk’s daughter Lilah was born only hours before he took to Guilherme Jorge’s (BRA) Rolex Finale track in the International Arena at Wellington International.
From a field of 40 qualified riders that included six of the world’s top 10 ranked athletes, eight advanced to the tie-breaking jump-off. The pathfinder in both rounds was Israeli Olympian Ashlee Bond, who finished third aboard Donatello 141 with the first time to beat of 40.41 seconds. She was pipped by U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Laura Kraut riding Bisquetta to finish as the runner-up in 39.49 seconds.
“I knew Laura was fast and that I had to try everything,” said Kukuk, who also won the NetJets CSI4* Grand Prix at WEF earlier in the season. “It went well and then suddenly I had too many [strides] to the last. I thought for a second that I had lost it but looked to the screen and saw I got lucky in that moment.”
Kukuk bested Kraut by two tenths of a second, stopping the clock at 39.20 seconds for the win.
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Christian Kukuk is Twice a Winner in Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix
