July 13, 2025 
On the edge of the arena, a young woman wearing a brightly-colored jacket of red, white, and blue jumps up and down cheering, throwing herself joyfully into the arms of those next to her.
In the warmup, another young woman, on the back of her stallion partner of ten years, dissolves into tears.
We’ve come to the end of the second round of the Falsterbo 5* Grand Prix, an unbelievable display of speed and daring, and the winner is Karl Cook and his no-one-is-quicker mare Caracole de la Roque.
But only a half-second back is Dutch rider Sanne Thijssen, 26-years old, and the amazing, spirited stallion Con Quidam RB. Her hard-fought round wowed the crowd, eliciting gasps and breathless cheers. It seemed unbeatable.
But nothing is unbeatable while Caracole remains on the start list.
But let’s back up. Here we are on a Sunday in Falsterbo, that holiday town on the southwest coast of Sweden where soft-sand beaches stretch lazily along the coast.
The sun has joined us on this last day of the show after days of interminable rain. The livestream returns again and again to the sky above the arena, showing a wide shot of the green showgrounds, surrounded by trees that end at white sand and blue water. The sea stretches out from the peninsula, lost in the hazy horizon.
We have 50 starters over a course of 14 obstacles and 17 efforts, designed by Frank Rothenberger of Germany. Riders will find faults throughout the course, but the trickiest part seems to come during the triple, composed of the iconic Rolex standards and the two jumps thereafter: both delicate verticals, one with an aggressively wavy plank on top and the other sporting a liverpool beneath it.
The class is designed as two rounds, with 25% of the starters returning for the second. That makes 13 returning, in order from the slowest first round time to the fastest.
We are joined by 15 nations and five of the world’s top ten: Kent Farrington, McLain Ward, Steve Guerdat, Cian O’Connor, and hometown hero Henrik von Eckermann.
We get our first clear quickly, with our second to go: Sanne Thijssen and her 19-year-old partner Con Quidam RB. A breathless round, with the stallion determined to run deep and his rider persuading him convincingly to hold back.
The field is a bit worried about time, as even clear rounds will not make it back if there are too many and they are too slow. Several try a quick pace, only to be met with tumbled rails. Austrian rider Max Kühner and Eic Daloubet choose a steady pace for the next clear. He is joined immediately by Swiss rider Pius Schwizer and Jason R.
Trevor Breen of Ireland and Highland President leave the fences up, as does British rider Simon Crippen on the wonderfully-named Handsome. Then, to the delight of the crowd, we get two Swedish clears: Amanda Eriksson aboard Folsom and von Eckermann with Minute Man.
In the end, Eriksson and Folsom will be the 14th clear round, their time eliminating them from contesting round two.
The second half of round one gives us a clear from the young Matias Larocca, whose father opened the class as first in the order-of-go. We get a clear from Pedro Junqueira Muylaert of Brazil, while world number 6 Steve Guerdat and his partner Dynamix de Belheme slink beautifully around the course for another.
Then comes Karl and Caracole, who “ooze class” as they button up their round with the fastest time of any of the clears by nearly three seconds.
Three more clear rounds finish up the first round: Peder Fredricson of Sweden on Alcapone des Carmille, Andreas Schou of Denmark with Darc de Lux, and Malin Baryard-Johnsson also of Sweden with H&M Indiana.
In the second round, we have eight obstacles. We have a rollback after fence two to the Defender vertical, a place to chance a tight turn (and a place to knock a rail, as many of the participants prove), then an even tighter rollback (if you dare!) to what once was the Rolex triple but has now become a double. This is followed by another vertical, demanding care, high and delicate and with a liverpool. After this, those in the game will start to run—around the Devil’s Dyke to take a flying leap at an oxer, then rolling back again to a skinny vertical and ending with a curving all-out gallop to the last Rolex oxer.
We start with a knocked rail by Simon Crippen. Max Kühner gives a steady clear at 49.40. After two rounds with faults, Danish Schou improves on Kühner’s time by two seconds. We get a slower clear from the Argentinian Larocca.
Then comes von Eckermann. We saw him on the livestream during intermission, decked out in all-black Dada like a rider ninja, wistfully reflecting that the Falsterbo Grand Prix is one he has never won. They’ll be able to replay that video next year, as he and Minute Man, after a smooth start, take out two of the jumps, much to the chagrin of the loyal crowd.
Then comes Thijssen and that glorious piece of horse flesh, Con Quidam RB. Con Quidam, who was so much a stallion that “he almost killed himself” and earned a chemical castration. Con Quidam, who has the scope for 3* competition, but the heart to jump 1.70. Con Quidam, who was out with a tendon injury for more than two years, but now competes at the top at the ripe old age of 19!
Con Quidam, who shoots across the arena like a bullet and gives us a most convincing and athletic round to put himself into the lead by more than 3 seconds! The crowd swoons.
The rider is pictured onscreen shortly after taking congratulatory calls on her cell phone.
And why shouldn’t she? Guerdat blitzes his round beautifully, but comes up short. Peder Fredricson tries, but grabs 8 faults as his prize. Another aged veteran, 17-year-old Olympic gold medalist H&M Indiana and her rider Malin Baryard-Johnsson do their best, but can’t even match Guerdat’s time.
But then there’s Caracole. And man, she’s been looking good good good here in Falsterbo with her upstart American rider Cook, giving two easy clear rounds in the Nations Cup on Friday.
They negotiate the two tight rollbacks leading up to the liverpool vertical, then they fly around the Devil’s Dyke, leaving the oxer somewhere on the ground beneath them. Fly at that skinny, why not? And head to the last oxer, right in front of the crowd, let it pass underneath in easy fashion and—take your trophy home!
And that’s when the camera jumps to his wife, MacKenzie Cook, colorful and joyful, and his rival, Sanne Thijssen, losing what seemed so sure only moments before.
Thijssen’s tears, we later learn in the press conference, were of the relieved variety. A promise had been made to retire Con Quidam, whose youthful vigor belies his years, after his next 5-star win. With this defeat, they go on to fight another day.
Rematch!
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