OLYMPIC show jumping champion Christian Kukuk had the best year of his life in 2024, but not only because he won the individual gold medal in Paris with Checker, but on that very same day, he found out that he would become a father in 2025.

The 35-year-old German rider announced that his fiancé, American show jumper Veronica Tracy, is expecting the couple’s first baby in the spring, a girl. Readers of Irish Horse World might be familiar with Veronica, who has plenty of winning form on Irish soil. Veronica was based at Greg Broderick’s Ballypatrick Stables for a period in recent years and, among her Irish international wins, was a two-star double in 2018 at Balmoral with Zuidam.

She now trains with and owns horses for German Olympian Richard Vogel and, while currently on maternity leave, among the horses in her own string are the Irish-breds Killossery Kaiden and Monbeg Thunderball B.

In an announcement on Instagram over the Christmas period, Veronica shared a picture of an engagement ring and her bump, saying: “2024 was everything… but 2025 looks like it might just be more. So grateful for all of it, and feeling beyond blessed to welcome our little miracle girl this spring.”