German Sönke Rothenberger and Danish Cathrine Dufour made their Sunday at the 2017 CDI Hagen count by capturing the trophy and number one spot in the two Grand Prix classes that were held on 30 April 2017. Rothenberger ruled over several of Germans A-team riders in the Grand Prix for Special, while Cathrine Dufour took her second trophy of the weekend in the Grand Prix Kur to Music.
Early on Sunday morning the international top riders met again at Horses & Dreams meets Austria in the Almased Dressage Stadium for the second Grand Prix of the event, the Grand Prix for Special. Four members of the German dressage team contested this class and took the top positions on the board.
Sönke Rothenberger (Bad Homburg) took the first place with his 10-year old Dutch warmblood gelding Cosmo (by Van Gogh x Landjonker). A member of the Olympic gold medal winning team in Rio, Rothenberger and Cosmo competed in their second CDI this 2017 show season and won the Hagen Grand Prix for Special with 77.620%.
“Cosmo was very fresh, already in the warm up, as well as directly in the test. But he allowed me to control him quite well," said the 22-year old Rothenberger.
Second place went to Isabell Werth (Rheinberg) with the Rhinelander bred Emilio (by Ehrenpreis x Cacir AA), who presented himself beautifully both technically as well as physically, though he was somewhat over motivated, making things slightly more difficult for the rider. They scored 76.940% for second place. Fabienne Lütkemeier (Paderborn) took third place with her second Grand Prix horse Fabregaz on a score of 75.700%.
Dufour Does the Double in Hagen
After winning Friday's Grand Prix for Kur, Danish Cathrine Dufour finished the job on Sunday and won the double by topping the board in the afternoon Kur to Music with 80.200%. Aboard her 14-year old Danish bred Atterupgaards Cassidy (by Caprimond x Donnerhall), Olympian Dufour was the only rider to crack the 80% barrier.
Hubertus Schmidt and the Schwaiganger state stud owned Trakehner stallion Imperio (by Connery x Balfour xx) climbed to a second place with 79.075%, while Fabienne Lutkemeier and her 17-year old Hanoverian gelding D'Agostino (by De Niro x Shogun xx) recaptured third place, this time with a 77.850% score.
Dufour will be riding a select number of competition this 2017 show season, aiming for the Europeans this summer as top event on the calendar.
"I will use that time to choreograph a new freestyle. The Danish championships are coming up and I hope to be nominated for the team that will compete in Aachen, and of course the European championships," she said.
Photos © Petra Kerschbaum - LL-foto
Related Links
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2017 CDI Hagen