July 3, 2025 
It was a tale of very different American wins on Wednesday, July 2 at CHIO Aachen, with two promising young horses officially making an impression in Germany.
First up, three-time Olympic medalist Laura Kraut earned her first win with the 9-year-old OS gelding Emeraldo 4—and did so in dramatic form.
On her way to the first jump in the 1.50m Prize of StädteRegion Aachen, the skies opened up, and a deluge of rain descended on the Hauptstadion. No matter. Kraut and Emeraldo put the pedal down, stopping the clock at 31.98 seconds.
“After leaving the arena, I joked that I had only ridden so fast because I wanted to get out of the ring,” Kraut said.
Whatever her reasoning, the America rider’s time held through both a subsequent rain delay and the remaining riders on the startlist of 52. Eventually, Kevin Jochems (NED) and Prada di Costa M would take second place on a time of 32.40, just nine hundredths of a second ahead of Germany’s Richard Vogel in and Levi Noesar in third.
“[Emeraldo] is simply wonderful! Every time I jump him, he tries to do everything right,” said Kraut, who plans to enter the gelding in his first 1.60m class in the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia on Friday. “He simply has a remarkable attitude towards everything—including thunderstorms, as I now know!”
Formerly campaigned by Pia-Luise Baur of Germany, Emeraldo joined Kraut’s string this winter in Wellington. In nine rounds at 1.50m and four rounds 1.55m, they jump clear at 56% and 50%, respectively, according to Jumpr Stats.
The hallmark class of the day, however, belonged to the 1.60m Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe, and fortunately, so did the better weather. For the second time in his career, Olympic silver medalist Kent Farrington was victorious, this time aboard Myla. (He previously won the class with Voyeur back in 2014.)
Describing the 10-year-old Holsteiner mare as, “a big heart in a small package,” Farrington bested a field of 46 combinations, with a total of 13 riders qualifying for the jump-off, including fellow American Lillie Keenan with Fasther. But it would ultimately be Israel’s Daniel Bluman and Corbie v.V. who set the time to beat at 38.81 seconds.
“They are super riders, so it was a challenging task. But I knew exactly what I had to do,” Farrington said of his jump-off strategy for the rest of the field. “I trust my horse and her speed, even if I do one stride more, she has a faster footstep.”
Last to go on the shortened course, Farrington and Myla did just that, cutting 0.38 seconds off Bluman’s time to take over the lead (38.53). Ben Maher and Dallas Vegas Batilly were third on 39.65 seconds.
Though they’ve previously made the podium at events including the CSI5* LGCT Grand Prix of Paris and the CSI5* MLSJ Grand Prix of Greenwich, this marks a career-high win for Farrington and Myla, who have been together since February of 2024.
“If you stand next to [Myla], she looks like a pony. She’s very kind and incredibly brave. She really fights [for me],” Farrington explained. “She tries to do anything you ask, and tonight, we asked her to win.”
