September 28, 2025 
If you were taking bets who would win the LGCT Grand Prix of Vienna, Philipp Weishaupt and Kilmister would have been the 100 to 1 long shots.
At 9-years old, the Swedish Warmblood has jumped just four 1.60m courses prior, never clear. But you’d wouldn’t know that from the masterclass they put on Sunday.
Last to return in the 12-horse jump off and chasing the time of veteran partners Harrie Smolders and Monaco, two-time LGCT Grand Prix winners already this year, Weishaupt and the expressive gelding carved a track that belied the horse’s experience. Effortlessly smooth and spectacularly tight.
“He had a perfect ride,” enthused countryman Christian Kukuk in the post-class analysis.
“Today was a jump off for no doubt and no questions, so he knew he had to try everything and that’s what he did. He went all in and he won it.”
Weishaupt and Kilmister stopped the clock at 40.85 seconds, the only sub 41 second double clear and nearly a second faster than their exponentially more experienced Smolders and Monaco to take the win.
No one was more surprised by the result than Weishaupt.
“It was completely unexpected,” he admitted. “Nine is extremely young to jump that level.”
The German rider originally planned to jump 11-year-old Oreo D.R. in the Grand Prix, but said the horse felt tired after Friday’s Global Champions League team class, where he helped Riesenbeck International to a second place finish with a 4/0 score.
Kilmister was tapped to fill his shoes and jumped clear in Saturday’s 1.50m class. Weishaupt skipped the jump off to save his horse for Sunday when a willing partner and a little luck pushed them through to the jump off.
“The first round, he really helped me out,” he continued of Sunday’s Grand Prix. “I came miles too quick and too fast into the double. I don’t know how he came out of there. He really helped me. And then I lost my reins in the first round.”
They bounced back to execute a foot perfect jump off.
“In the second round, I think I had a fantastic turn from two to three,” said Weishaupt. “I got a perfect shot with a bit of room to the vertical [of the double]. He jumped it great. And [to the penultimate oxer is where] I think I won it. I was going full speed to the oxer.
“For so little experience, the horse was just incredible, incredible quality. If a nine year old can deliver a round like this, it’s just unbelievable.”
Winning five-star Grands Prix with 9-year-old horses is becoming a habit for Weishaupt. He captured the LGCT Grand Prix of Doha in 2023 with Just Be Gentle and both the Individual Final at the 2023 European Championships and the GCL Super Cup Final with Zineday—both horses were just nine at the time.
“It’s a special skill you have to have and he has that in him,” continued Kukuk of Weishaupt’s impressive five-star win record with inexperienced horses. “That’s just a natural feeling he has in himself. Not many riders have that. He’s one of a few.”
The LGCT next heads to Rome, October 10–12.
