More than 200 riders from 20 countries and up to 350 horses will arrive in Budapest for the CSIO3*-W-NC EEF SF International Jumping Competition and World Cup, held from 11to 14 July. The Austrian team will travel from Budapest directly to Paris for the Olympics.
This year, the list of participating countries at the CSIO in Budapest is even more prestigious than usual with riders from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan will compete in the National Riding Hall.
Austrian riders will certainly attract the most attention. Max Kühner, 50, is currently ranked third in the world jumping rankings and no rider with such a high score has ever competed in Hungary.
Another interesting fact is that the next stop for the Austrian team after Budapest will be Paris, where they have qualified with Max Kühner on Elektric Blue P (he will not ride on this horse in Budapest), Gerfried Puck on Naxcel V, Katharina Rhomberg on Cuma 5, Christoph Obernauer on Kleons Renegade as reserve. The Austrian team won bronze at the European Championships in Milan in 2023 with almost the same composition.
Greek Angelos Touloupis, who lives and trains in Austria, is also a regular guest in the international jumping competitions in Budapest. In 2022 he won on Lord Mexx the 150cm, €52,000 CSIO3* Grand Prix presented by the Hungarian Ministry of the Defence among 15 riders from 15 countries. Two years ago second place went to Jörne Sprehe from Germany, member of the German Nations Cup’s team.
Slovenian Urh Bauman, who has already won the Grand Prix of the Szilvásvárad Masters, will be in the saddle in Budapest as well.
The Hungarian national team members are composed of Vince Jármy, Kövy András Jnr., Gábor Szabó Jnr., Ferenc Szentirmai and Péter Szuhai, with Tamás Dömse as reserve rider. It is no exaggeration to say that the cream of the Hungarian jumping riders will be on the track at the National Riding Hall, and they will be very happy to be encouraged in all the events.
The tournament will kick off on Thursday, 11 July at 8 AM with the 125cm competition for young horses presented by Alpenspan Prize.
Admittance is free on Thursday and Saturday, on Friday and Sunday it will cost HUF 2,000 per person.
On the cover photo: Max Kühner and Elektric Blue P – Photo: FEI / Liz Gregg