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.
“I definitely left the door open,” admitted Kraut. “I added to the third and added to the double. I should have left one out in both those places.
“Being second to the Olympic champion feels pretty good,” continued Kraut, who piloted her 2014 Zangersheide mare (Bisquet Balou C x Takashi van Berkenbroek) for owners Cherry Knoll Farm. “She's a very quick horse, but I got a bit cautious. I have to say, the crowd here has been amazing all season, but tonight was extra electric. There were tremendous horses and riders tonight, and I think that keeping it to eight clear was a definite credit to [Guilherme’s] talent.”
Jorge has designed the finale grand prix at Wellington International for 11 consecutive years and noted that the evening’s result went exactly to plan. “Eight is always my number,” said Jorge, who designed the courses fro the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “I wanted to test the horse and rider ability, but also give this huge crowd an opportunity to see the speed and a very exciting finale. This is a championship-level course, a championship-level event, but when it comes to the jump-off, it's 100% up to the riders.”
As the first to crack the code on Jorge’s course, Bond gave all the credit to her Olympic partner. “Donnie and I have been together nine years, and after the Olympics I wasn't sure he was going to do this again because he didn't feel the same in Paris as he did in Tokyo,” she said of the 2011 Westphalian gelding (Diarado x Lamoureux I). “The fact that I get to be third in a Rolex 1.60m Grand Prix makes me grateful and I don't take any of these moments for granted. As long as he keeps telling me that he loves his job, he'll do it. Then, if he can give my daughter pony rides for the rest of his career, that’s fine.”
The win for Kukuk is the culmination of his first season spent in Wellington. “I was really excited to come back and spend the whole winter here; I had great success, but this last week and the Rolex Grand Prix is outstanding,” he said. “It's such a competitive class and we have an amazing crowd—you feel the tension as a rider. There is something special between Checker and this arena. Every time I come in the ring with him, I have the feeling that he has an extra gear.”
When asked about the journey with Checker 47—a 2010 Westphalian gelding (Comme Il Faut 5 x Come On) owned by M.H & Partner GBR & Madeleine Winter-Schulze—Kukuk said nothing would be possible without a strong partnership between horse and rider. “I know every single button and he knows and trusts me. It's a relationship based on trust; I know exactly what I can ask from him, and he knows I would never ask anything crazy from him. Consistently winning on this level is only about creating a deep relationship with your horse.”
Kukuk also credited Checker’s relationship with groom Sofie Karlsson as a contributor to their success. Karlsson was presented with the $500 Double H Farm’s Grooms Award on Saturday.
To close the evening, Wellington International President Michael Stone celebrated a record-breaking WEF season that saw every ‘Saturday Night Lights’ completely sold out.
“Seeing the crowds turn out for those athletes proves that we are accomplishing our goal of bringing the sport to everybody,” he said. “The quality of riders we have now is amazing with Olympic champions and world no. 1. It’s a sport that everyone can be part of and to be able to help grow that makes Wellington International very proud.”
Wellington International joined the debut season of the Rolex Series this year alongside some of the most renowned equestrian sport venues in the world, including Rome, Italy; La Baule, France; Falsterbo, Sweden; Dinard, France; Dublin, Ireland; and Brussels, Belgium.
“Rolex has been a fantastic partner for us, and to be asked to be part of the series is incredible. It raises our level because we can share what we do with the world,” concluded Stone. “We are all working together for the good of the sport.”
Top Five Results: $750,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix
- Christian Kukuk (GER) & Checker 47: 2010 Westphalian gelding (Comme Il Faut 5 x Come On)
Owner: M.H & Partner GBR & Madeleine Winter-Schulze
Faults/Time: 0/0/39.20 - Laura Kraut (USA) & Bisquetta: 2014 Zangersheide mare (Bisquet Balou C x Takashi van Berkenbroek)
Owners: Cherry Knoll Farm
Faults/Time: 0/0/39.49 - Ashlee Bond (ISR) & Donatello 141: 2011 Westphalian gelding (Diarado x Lamoureux I)
Owner: Ashlee Bond Show Jumping
Faults/Time: 0/0/40.41 - Jordan Coyle (IRL) & Chaccolino: 2011 gelding Zangersheide (Chacco-Blue x Heartbreaker)
Owner: Elan Farm
Faults/Time: 0/0/40.44 - Bertram Allen (IRL) & Conquest de Rigo: 2016 Belgian Warmblood gelding (Fantomas de Muze x Indonctro)
Owners: Ballywalter Stables
Faults/Time: 0/4/40.45
