Aachen, August 30th, 2006

Dobel's Cento: Farewell at the Aachen Soers

On Thursday, August 31st, an official farewell ceremony will be held for the 17-year-old stallion, Dobel's Cento, during the break in the second round of the Show-jumping Nations' Cup, the Mercedes-Benz Prize.

With his rider, Otto Becker, the Holstein grey stallion (Capitol I x Caletto II) won team gold at the Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney as well as team bronze at the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens. The pair also claimed gold in the team classification at the European Championships 2003. Two years before they had taken team bronze at the European Championships 2001. In 2002, Otto Becker won the World Cup Final in Leipzig with Cento, who was bred by Heinrich Schoof (Büsum). The pair jumped to victory in the Grand Prix of Aachen and Calgary, among others. In the course of his sporting career, Dobel´s Cento prize money totals 1,026,188 Euros.

The stallion is also particularly valuable for his owner, Horst Karcher and the Dobel Stud, from a breeding point of view. In the past year alone, 151 of his offspring were successful in Class S show-jumping competitions. Overall, his offspring have already won 566, 624 Euros and 16 of his sons have been graded at home and abroad.

The long-lined horse already stood out at the stallion grading test in Marbach in 1992 when he achieved second place with an index of 132.56 points. A serial winner in young horse jumping contests under the rider of the time, Armin Becherer (Waldbronn), he qualified himself for the National Championships of German Young Horses in Warendorf with a score of 9.0.

Otto Becker started riding the stallion in September 1995 and he was immediately convinced by his extraordinary jumping potential. Otto Becker was able to win his first young horse jumping competition with Dobel´s Cento just one month later at the German Classics in Bremen. When the then-only seven year old won the Open French Stallion Championships against many older and more experienced stallions at the International Show-jumping competition in Caen, France, in 1996, it was the final proof for Otto Becker that Dobel´s Cento was going to be a world top class horse.

Otto Becker: "I have been riding Dobel´s Cento for eleven years now and have celebrated many victories with him. He demonstrated how fit he still is at the age of 17, among others, by winning this year´s Nations' Cup in La Baule. Which is why his owner, Horst Karchner, and I have decided to retire him from competitive sport now. The stadium at Aachen Soers is a very special venue for the both of us, because we have enjoyed special victories here, including winning the Grand Prix in the year 2000 and the Nations' Cup in 2004."