On the second day of competition for the FEI Nations Cup™ CDIO3* on Thursday, March 12, at the Global Dressage Festival (GDF), the team from the USA took the gold medal with 439.992 points. The Canadian team took silver with 436.034 points, and Denmark was awarded the bronze with 424.501 points.
The podium presentation for team medals will take place during “Friday Night Stars” on the evening of March 13.
Peters Leads American Charge to Victory
All four of the victorious U.S. team members rode in the big tour division, with Steffen Peters clocking the highest score of 76.085% to top the FEI Grand Prix Special CDIO3*. He was joined by Adrienne Lyle, who scored 72.553% on Duval Partners LLC’s Harmony’s Duval. Katherine Bateson Chandler rode Alcazar to 69.723%, with Anna Marek posting 67.936%, which was the drop score.
Peters, who rode Four Winds Farm’s 18.2hh Suppenkasper, said: “It was very close overnight with Canada, just 0.1%, so Debbie [McDonald] and I talked quite a bit and I believed that going in the ring we should take the intensity from the training in the warm-up into the show arena, not an ounce more, but certainly not an ounce less.
“That was the tactic today and it worked out beautifully. ‘Mopsie’ did a very clean test, even more relaxed than any of the other tests he’s done so far. This season was extremely therapeutic for both of us, and we’re looking forward to the freestyle tomorrow,” added Peters, who has been in Wellington for most of the season and will now return to his California base.
Lyle had an improved performance with Harmony’s Duval. She noted, “When you’re riding for the team, you always want to put your best test in and this is an exciting format having it over the two days,” she said. “The first day we had some uncharacteristic communication errors, so I really wanted to come out today and put down a strong test for the team and I was happy with his effort.”
“I haven’t had a test with as many mistakes as yesterday in quite a while, so it took me a bit by surprise,” she explained. “But it was good, because for today it put me back in a high gear again and realize that I had to push on a bit more.”
Marek was grateful for the experience of riding on a team, something she had never done before. “I wanted to go out and have a clean ride,” she said. “I was very thankful to be on the team and to get some Nations Cup team experience with awesome teammates. Today I kicked it up a notch and the whole experience has been wonderful.”
Canada and Denmark on the Podium
Canada’s all-female foursome also all rode in the big tour, with their top scorer, Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu, finishing with the third-highest score of 73.489% on All In. She was flanked by Megan Lane, Lindsay Kellock, and Naima Moreira Laliberte, who this time last year was riding on her nation’s under-25 Nations Cup team.
Brittany Fraser Beaulieu said: “We all just wanted to ride a clean test, though we thought that to try to beat America we all needed to have a little bit more power than normal, which we tried to do.”
Denmark (made up of Signe Kirk Kristiansen, Agnete Kirk Thinggaard, Rikke Poulsen, and Carina Nevermann Torup) took the bronze medal despite their small tour combination of Rikke Poulsen and Furstentanz having to withdraw, leaving them with no drop score.
Kirk Thinggard spearheaded the Danes’ efforts, finishing on the second-highest score with a valuable 74.128% on Blue Hors Zatchmo, her own 11-year-old stallion by Zack.
First Ever Nation Cup teams for Israel and Japan
“I was so proud of my guy today; he was really working for me in the arena,” she enthused. “We had some ups and downs this season but today he was really doing his best for me and I felt like he was really trying. He was calm and comfortable in the arena and he hasn’t been at some of the earlier shows, so I was really happy.”
Israel fielded its first ever team of dressage riders in any competition to finish in fourth with 395.585. Team Japan was plagued by injury on the second day of action, losing two of their combinations and dropping them out of contention as they could not muster three counting scores.
Ebeling Wins Individual Round CDIO-Under 25
In the FEI Grand Prix 16-25 CDIO-U25, presented by Diamante Farms, Benjamin Ebeling (USA) and Illuster Van De Kampert, Nuvolari Holdings LLC’s 12-year-old Spielberg gelding, led the class with 71.179%, claiming his second gold medal after helping his team, Team USA “Stars and Stripes,” to victory the previous day. Fellow American Emma Asher scooped the silver on Elegance N, an 11-year-old by Jazz. Canada’s Camille Carier Bergeron claimed the bronze medal riding Acoeur.
“The first two times that I did a grand prix with him, we had to retire. He’s such a hot horse and it’s taken me a while to get to know him and to understand how to control him. These last few shows have been really positive for us. I think it’s just been about getting to know my horse better and he’s trusting me more,” he added.
Emma Asher, a former show jumper who was also part of the winning Team USA “Stars and Stripes,” has been building her relationship with Seeley Equestrian Ventures’ Elegance N having previously ridden a schoolmaster. They scored 70.051% to claim the individual silver medal.
“I was surprised by the score; the judges liked it better than I did, which doesn’t happen very often,” admitted 18-year-old Asher. “But it was really exciting because we’ve had a little bit of a struggle transitioning to this horse from my previous U-25 horse, who was a schoolmaster that did everything perfectly the first time. It was great to break the 70% barrier. I’m really glad we have a class like this for upcoming professionals, so thanks to Diamante Farms for sponsoring it as it’s great to have the opportunity to ride at this level.”
The bronze medal went to Canada’s Camille Carier Bergeron who rode the 13-year-old Acoeur, by Acordelli, to 69.692%. She held off a challenge from Hope Cooper (USA) by just 0.128%.
Canada-based Carier Bergeron could hardly believe her result in her second year at the level. “This is our best score so far in an individual test and when I heard the first score I thought, ‘Oh my God, it must be a mistake or just one judge that gave me that score.’ Then the second one came out and I thought, ‘Wow, maybe it’s true,’ and then I realized it was really true when I heard the third one,” she said. “For me it was a big surprise because we just tried our best and got so much better piaffe/passage than we normally do.”
Holzer and Eastwood Top the Board in 3* Grand Prix
It wasn’t until the penultimate rider of the 30 starters, Holzer’s pupil Jill Irving (CAN), that anyone else broke the 70% barrier. Irving and her own 18-year-old Degas 12 by De Niro posted a very close 71.239%, with two of the five judges having her as the winner.
Alice Tarjan (USA) and her own Candescent, a 10-year-old mare by Christ who is competing in her first season at AGDF, finished third with 69.544%.
This class was a qualifier for the Grand Prix Special 3* on Saturday afternoon, in which Holzer will be hoping to catch the eye of selectors in her quest for one of the three team places on offer for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Parra and GK Don Cesar Win Prix St Georges
At small tour, Cesar Parra (USA) claimed victory from the 12 starters in the Prix St. Georges CDI3*. He rode GK Don Cesar, a 10-year-old by Desperados, to 71.274%, a new personal best at the level. This was their second win of the 2020 GDF.
Ariana Chia (CAN) on Fiderflame finished second with 70.196%, with the USA’s Jami Kment filling third with 70.147% on Gatino Van Hof Olympia
Global Dressage Festival Closed to the Public to Contain Corona
Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP), the organizing committee of the Global Dressage Festival, is working closely with the Village of Wellington, Palm Beach County, and local health services to take extra precautions concerning the threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Competition at both the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF - show jumping) and Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) will continue as planned through March 29, 2020, with policies in place to protect the health of riders, grooms, owners, and their families. In addition, the ESP Spring Series, running from April 1 through May 10, will run as scheduled with the same health and safety precautions. We will continue monitoring the situation and will follow all State and local recommendations.
In an abundance of caution, we have decided to close the venues to the general public and there will be no general admission. Only cars with an official car pass will be permitted on the venues.
Text by Alice Collins - GDF press release
Photos © Sue Stickle - Astrid Appels
Related Links
Scores: 2020 CDIO Wellington
Team USA Stars and Stripes Win Under 25 Nations Cup at 2020 CDIO Wellington