Via: Revolution Sports + Entertainment
The Jumping Owners Club (JOC) is proud to announce that the Holsteiner Association, owner of the top ranked bay stallion, Casall Ask, has been named Owner of the Year for 2014.
Ridden by Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, Casall Ask is one of the most respected horses on the international show jumping circuit and has been recognised as the finest show jumping horse of 2014.
The JOC Owner of the Year award was created in 2004 to recognise the most successful owner each year in the discipline of Jumping. To determine the winner, a classification is established for all horse and rider combinations based on points accrued during the calendar year, with the winning owner receiving the award: a bronze sculpture produced by Caroline Wallace and a silver picture frame.
Casall Ask, now 15 year old, accumulated a series of impressive results during 2014 including 4th place at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy. During the Longines Global Champions Tour 2014, the pair qualified for the jump-off six times, fought off world-class competition to win the Chantilly and Doha legs and placed 2nd in the GCT’s 2014 overall rankings with 243 points. He is not only an exceptional show jumping horse but also a top sire that is presented with his offspring at the European Championship in Aachen this year.
Made up of 5,200 breeders and founded in 1883, the Holsteiner Association is a breeding concept unrivalled anywhere in the world. As well as Casall Ask, international show jumping horses such as Chiara, ridden by Ludger Beerbaum (GER), and Carlo ridden by Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP), are among the successful offspring of Holsteiner breeding lines.
The Holsteiner Association join some of the equestrian world’s most esteemed names, with previous winners including Jane Clarke with Ben Maher’s Olympic Gold Medal winning horse Cella and Eric Lamaze and John Fleischhacker with arguably one the world’s greatest show jumping horse, the legendary Hickstead.
Jan Lüneburg, the president of the Holsteiner Association, who was presented with the prestigious award at the FEI European Championships in Aachen, on Saturday 22nd August, in front of a packed crowd commented: “It is such an honour for us to be presented with this award, Casall Ask is an exceptional horse and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson has done such a great job riding him over the years. On behalf of the group I would like to say a big thank you to our support team like Celia Rijntjes, his groom, as well as his sponsors over the years, La Silla in Mexico and now Stutteri Ask in Denmark without whom we would not be here today, everyone has been incredible.”
Chairman of the JOC, Mr. Christian Baillet, commented: “Congratulations to the Holsteiner Association, they truly deserve this award. Casall Ask’s performance stood out in 2014 and to achieve the results he has at 15 years old makes it even more special.”
"The level of equestrian sport keeps on rising, so winning the Owner of the Year award is an incredible achievement," said FEI President Ingmar De Vos. "Casall Ask and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson have been extremely successful over the last seven years, including representing Sweden at the London 2012 Olympic Games. This is a fantastic partnership, and with the support of the Holsteiner Verbarnd we look forward to seeing Rolf-Göran and Casall Ask going on to even greater success."
Picture caption: Jan Lüneburg, the president of the Holsteiner Association, receives the 2014 JOC Owner of the Year Award at Aachen. Presenting the Award is (from left) Madeleine Winter-Schulze representing the JOC, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, Jan Lüneburg, Pierre Genecand representing the JOC and FEI President Ingmar De Vos.
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