Warwick McLean and Gotterfunke Sparkle in 2026 Aachen Dressage Days Prix St Georges

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2026 Aachen Dressage Days

Australian Warwick McLean and Abtwald's Götterfunke sparkled in the Prix St Georges and moved into the winner's circle at the 2026 Aachen Dressage Days CDI held on 4 - 6 May 2026.

Show directors Renate and Frans-Jozef Dahmen were able to attract 24 small tour combinations for an exciting competition in the famous Allianz arena at the CHIO Aachen show grounds, many riders with Asian flags in an attempt to earn their Minimum Eligibility Requirement scores for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.

However, it were German based ride McLean who took home the trophies for the Prix St Georges.

A Galaxy Not so Far Away

Warwick McLean piloted the 9-year old Oldenburg bred gelding Abtwald's Götterfunke (by Grand Galaxy Win x Sandro Prinz) to the top of the leaderboard in the Prix St Georges. Judges Rothenberger, Walter and Voser, placed the Australian first with 70.294%.

"Winning always feels good. It was quite close up until the end," Warwick told Eurodressage. "It was a very nice feeling riding in this Aachen stadium. For me the most successful Aachen I had, even though it's not the big CHIO," he added with a joke. "Gotterfunke came for the party and felt really good for the test. The feeling with him was very nice. I felt like I could ride him. Nice neck, present him well. It's nice to present them in a nice modern way with a nice contact and show your best for the sport."

From Normal to Grand Prix Talent

Götterfunke is bred by ZG Schulz and owned by Dr. Stefan Erdtmann. He has been in training with McLean since the horse was four. In 2021 he was first shown by his assistant, New Zealand rider Holly Moorman, before he took over the show ride and produced him up the levels. Before winning in Aachen, the pair competed in the Nurnberger Burgpokal qualifier in Hagen.

The horse, whose name means "divine spark", has given McLean much joy as the Oldenburg turned from a normal horse into a big tour talent.

"Mr Erdtmann bought him from the field as a three year old and the horse was meant to go to Australia but then Covid came and then Stefan was in the right place at the right time. He was a normal young horse as a young horse, not the most spectacular but then as he learnt to trot a bit more and his body got a bit more supple I rode him to some good results as a 6-year olds. I developed him through and as an 8-year old he started doing some S-classes. This was his first international start in PSG and Inter I. First time we actually kind of rode that test."

Warwick continued, "he's a super nice character, very trainable. He has a big future for the Grand Prix and already doing most of the things. He has a big talent for piaffe and passage. The horse will stay with me. Dr. Erdtmann is quite the motivated horse enthusiast. He also has a lot of race horses and they are a horsey family and very supportive of me. The plan is why try to ride some Inter II by the end of the year and have Gotterfunke ready for the Grand Prix by 2028."