Everything is ready for the 2015 Barcelona Dressage Tour in Can Alzina, Spain. The beautiful facilities of the Elias – Collins – Vilá family are all set up to host the two CDIs the next two weeks. The international dressage spotlight will be on the BCN Dressage Tour from 17 - 29 March 2015.
The vet check took place on Tuesday afternoon 17 March 2015 under the auspices of FEI vet Gaspar Castelijns, the president of the ground jury Mexican 5* judge Maribel Alonso and international Chief steward Philip Blard. Them and their team were receiving the horses from 14.00 o´clock on in the covered arena at Can Alzina. The inspection went smooth, although 3 out of 103 horses will be re-inspected on Wednesday morning. There was one withdrawal after the horse did not pass the vet check.
The 2015 BCN Dressage Tour started with beautiful sunshine and nice temperatures and everybody could feel spring in the air. The southern sunshine helps to create a happy atmosphere and even the horses seem to be in a good mood under these nice weather conditions, in spite of a long journey on the road for some of them. BCN Dressage Tour is one of the first outdoor shows of the 2015 season and so far it seems that everybody is enjoying the experience.
One could listen to all kind of languages while horses and riders were coming and going into the covered arena or training and testing the competition arena yesterday. BCN Dressage Tour is hosting riders from 20 different nations during the next 14 days and at the show office, in the stabling area, during the vet check one could hear Spanish, English, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, Japanese, Norwegian, French, etc. “Hello!” “¿Qué tal?” For some of them it was the first time they meet again since last year’s competition season. You could see that Can Alzina was living up to its claim of “Dressage & Friends” once again.
Many riders from Great Britain are participating in this first CDI3*. The Eilberg family is on the spot. Michael Eilberg brought his wonderful mare Woodlander Farouche (by Furst Heinrich x Dimaggio) and she floated through the warm up arena, working out, ready to start tomorrow. Maria Eilberg and Fiona Bigwood will also compete during this first competition week, and they are joined by Swedish Charlotte Haid-Bondegaard.
The hospitality area in the "Jockey Club" is set up, waiting for its guests. Some riders reserved their table already; others may want to take advantage of this service. While watching both competition arenas you can have a drink or enjoy a meal.
Can Alzina is based in the beautiful Catalan region of Bellaterra. The two CDIs feature no less than 320 entries, from 20 countries, and they will gather approximately 160 athletes along with their technical staff: grooms, trainers, breeders, and owners. In 2015 several thousand spectators visited the showgrounds; this year’s event promises to live up to the expectation.
The program includes an ample range of tests. At top level there will be two Grand Prix tours, one for Freestyle and one for the Special. The new Amateur-Tour is also offered at the BCN Dressage Tour. The younger riders will be able to compete in the U25 and of course young riders, juniors, children, ponies and young horses divisions.
After the fantastic debut in 2014 this second edition promises to meet all expectations again! The eyes of fans and officials in the whole dressage world will be focused on Barcelona. Live broadcast of the whole competition assures an amazing visibility for the riders and the discipline.
For the second week we expect some of the top riders as Carl Hester, Richard Davidson and Henriette Andersen. They will add quality riding and ‘suspense’ to the competition. The complete competitors list and show schedule is now on the event website http://scores.topiberian.com .
Of course Spanish stars will be on the scene such as Beatriz Ferrer-Salat with Sir Radjah and several younger horses as well as Claudio Castilla with Alcaide and Ulisses, Lauro Aguiló with Hierro C, José Manuel Lucena with Wolk, Jordi Domingo among others are expected at BCN Dressage Tour 2015.
The two weeks of competitions offer again a prestigious ground jury, including 12 international 5* judges. Amongst them we find three members of the European Dressage Championship panel, as Susanne Baarup (DEN), Jean-Michel Roudier (FRA) and Tomas Lang (AUT), so far 1st reserve. Other top judges are i.e. Vicenzo Truppa (ITA), Gotthielf Riexinger (GER), Stephen Clarke (GBR) and Maribel Alonso (MEX), who will be the ‘First Lady’ at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Of course the Spanish international 4* judges Juan Carlos Campos and Francisco Guerra are on the spot. Additionally, in Barcelona there will be two members of the next ‘European Championship – JSP panel’: David Hunt and Uwe Mechlen will observe the competition and be available with their valuable knowledge for riders and judges during the CDI4*.
The best accommodations are provided for the competitors and their teams so that the 2015 Barcelona Dressage Tour will be another unforgettable experience. Beautiful quality facilities guarantee a smooth show, top surfaces and stabling area are prepared for the athletes. An unbeatable environment and atmosphere is waiting in Barcelona with Dressage & Friends, moments and emotions! Good Spanish food is a ‘must’ at Can Alzina and Barcelona with an amazing cultural, gastronomic and night-life-offer, at a distance of 30km.
Almost 80,000 euro in prize money will be awarded to the winning riders. This first CDI3* will have Albany Trustee appointed as the title sponsor, the town halls of Sabadell and Polinyà, ‘Mondepra Piscinas’ (swimming pool builders) are other collaborators enjoying this dressage competition. This CDI3* also enjoys sponsoring by the Spanish stud Adama da Susa and Liberto.
The Grand Prix for Freestyle will be on Thursday afternoon, Grand Prix for Special on Friday afternoon, Grand Prix Freestyle Saturday afternoon and Grand Prix Special Sunday morning. Today the show started with the small tour at 13.00 pm in the Sabadell Arena.
The event will be Live streamed on www.topiberian.com with comments from Bobby Fernandez de Bobadilla, the former director of Dressage at the Royal Spanish Federation. For any additional information please go to www.eventos.topiberian.com or www.events-barcelonahorses.com. Scores can be followed in real time on scores.topiberian.com.
The show starts today with the preliminary FEI 4 year old class of the CDI3*. Don´t miss the show, tomorrow we´ll come back with more information.
by Katharina Braren - Photos © Top Iberian - Arnd Bronkhorst
Related Links
The 2015 Barcelona Dressage Tour is Around the Corner
The 2015 Southern Dressage Tour in Spain is Calling