Fiona Bigwood and Atterupgaards Orthilia stepped up to the plate to capture the last podium place on the closing day of Week One at the 2015 Barcelona Dressage Tour on Sunday 22 March 2015. It was yet another British victory in the CDI3* on this first competition weekend that took place at Can Alzina. It was the icing on the cake for the group of British dressage riders which undertook the long journey traveling with their horses a thousand kilometres south to Barcelona for an amazing week of success. The Brits won nine tests!
Definitely there is nothing like having idols in a sport and riders like Carl and Charlotte Dujardin were the attraction at Barcelona in the past for young riders and peers to live up to!
The 2015 BCN Dressage Tour is in its second edition and so far has lived up to the expectations. The level of riding with some exciting new combinations and several very good presentations was interesting. Wind blew and some raindrops fell but riders and horses coped well and there still was a lot of fun. Another full week of competition is lying ahead with the CDI4* on 29 March - 3 April 2015 with a sunshine guaranteed.
Albany Trust Grand Prix Special
Fiona and her lovely Danish warmblood mare Atterupgaards Orthilia took the lead with another quality presentation. Tilly, as they call her at home, is only 10 years old and she is a beautiful daughter of Gribaldi. When she arrived at Fiona’s and Anders' barn she had already achieved outstanding results as a 3 and a 4 year old finalist at Young Horses Shows in Germany and Denmark. Danish young rider Cathrine Dufour won the 2013 National Young Rider Championships with her.
It was the first international Grand Prix test for the pair and it was definitely a beautiful presentation without mistakes. Fiona showed really clever riding, she would avoid any confrontation, never letting her young partner become upset in the exercises, as one could observe that the mare is still quite young and green in this level.
Carl Hester was not there for the CDI3* but he is competing in this week's CDI4* which starts on Wednesday 29 March 2015 in Barcelona. However his pupils already took first place in several tests. For example Ulrik Moelgaard and Michigan became once more second; the Michelino son behaved very well and one could again see harmonious riding and some of the trot extensions were lovely, but the piaffe wasn't their highlight. Still it looks the piaffes are living up to Ulrik's promise that they will come!
Stella Hagelstam and Chopin III had a lovely presentation again, the combination showed very expressive passage and piaffe, the passage – canter transition wasn't easy flowing and marks dropped, but also this nice couple hasn't reached the roof. There is quality for improvement and the Contendro son is only 12 years old.
And there is some cheerful news to tell: this was Stella'´s last ride in international competition, as she will have a baby this coming summer, in the month of august. She told us she is already looking towards her long-term goal which is the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, where we will see her again for sure. Here in Barcelona she got her qualification scores!
There was another debut for a Spanish couple at Grand Prix level: José Manuel Lucena and his gelding Wolk (by Rhodium). They competed for the first time at this level. The bay gelding has very good basic paces and shows talent for the Big Tour exercises. José has prepared and presented this horse ever since he arrived at his barn as a three year old. They have achieved outstanding results in the young horse classes; here at their debut they improved quite a bit from the Grand Prix to the Grand Prix Special.
Albany Trust Grand Prix Kur
The "Hester crew" was partly on the scene, Ulrik Moelgaard is a long time pupil, as well as his wife Henriette Andersen who will participate in next week's CDI4*. Hayley Watson-Graves was the winner of the Freestyle with Rubins Nite (by Rubin Royal). Hayley has been training with Carl Hester for many years now and she was very excited with her results. “I can't believe I won this, it was the first time we have been competing internationally abroad and the Freestyle music was only ready on the day before I took off. I had Ulrik by my side but it was still quite a challenge! But I must say I have a great horse," said Hayley, who is on the British Dressage High Performance Programme, cuing for a spot on the team!.
Grand Prix winner Lauro Aguiló and Hierro (by Ferro out of Babieca) were breathing down their neck and the final decision wasn't easy for the judges! They also showed another good presentation in which the choreography and music suited very well. Françoise Hologne–Joux and Wodan (by Gribaldi out of Lou Lou) placed third. This Belgium combination is part of the A-Team in their country. Here in Barcelona they are with Belgian Team Trainer Sjef Janssen, who has been on the spot to assist them as well as the Ukrainian rider Inna Logutenova.
Intermediaire I Freestyle
What a beautiful field the Small Tour Freestyle was such a joy to watch. There were a lot of the spectators overwhelmed with the winning ride by Michael Eilberg and the wonderful Farouche (by Furst Heinrich out of Dornroschen), now half owned by Ali Walton, who admitted that she had become teary eyed watching the presentation of her lovely mare. There were 9´s again for harmony, the extensions, the wonderful music and the flowing and easy presentation. Their average mark reached almost 80%. The Dutch Joyce Lenaerts and Show Boy (by Show Star out of Donna Girl) became second.
Intermediaire B
Michael Eilberg took the lead also in this class with the dam of the lovely Farouche, Woodlander Dornroschen (by Dimaggio). It was the 5th win for this young British rider in Barcelona! The mare shows much potential in all exercises; she showed good passage and nice trot extensions. The dam, just as her daughter, has an easy elegant and flowing lightness in her movements and both both make heads turn.
Young Riders
Rebecca Edwards and Carl Hester's ex - mount Don Archie (by Dimaggio) won the Young Riders class. This time with a beautiful freestyle and an overall average of 73.875%. Becky also rides Ufano, her Lusitano mount who's also here in Barcelona! Spanish young rider Ana Martinez Roca from Barcelona and Santa Fee, a lovely mare by Sandro Hit became second in this class although at quite a distance with 66.875%. Another Spanish rider, Pablo Alonso Latorre and Royal Song (63.042%) completed the podium.
The day before it was Becky who won on Don Archie, but it was a tight finish. Spanish young rider Cristina Torrent and De Vic (by Chagal) presented a very correct test back to her usual quality. Kevin Roegele and his mare Wieske (by Obelisk) collected another good placing on their debut. They finished third and rode a super volte on the right hand – an exercise that looks easier than it is, as the bending has to be very correct. Activity and regularity have to be kept up. Kevin couldn’t be more happy with his mare, he told us after his test! "Wieske has such a nice character, she really has become part of my family and I tell you she helps me and I help her we really have a great communication," said the young rider who trains with Carlos Torell.
Junior Riders
The juniors had their music day on Sunday as well. A clear winner in this category achieved amazing scores, i.e. a 76.125% in the Freestyle. Dutch rider Marjan Hooge and her 11-year old Rhinelander stallion Fulltime won all three junior riders' tests in Barcelona!. Swedish Esther Kotton finished second on the 12-year old Dutch bred Warendorf (by Skydancer) with a 72.750%. Anna Comas and her Westfalian Furstenau followed third with an average of 71.583%.
Luis Lucio, the Spanish Equestrian Federation's Dressage Chef, was present at the first CDI in Barcelona.He and Nicky Barrett, trainer of the youngsters, were quite satisfied with this year's results, but there is more to come for the Spanish youth riders.
All scores can be viewed at http://scores.topiberian.com.
The 2015 Barcelona Dressage Tour Today is set up for the CDI 4*. The vet check will start on Tuesday at 14.30 pm. Lots of exciting combinations are to come. Let's mention some names: Delgado, Der Designer, etc.
The event is 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 eventos.topiberian.com. Scores can be followed in real time on scores.topiberian.com. Very soon more to come on BCN Dressage Tour 2015.
by Katharina Braren - Photos © Top Iberian
Related Links
Scores: 2015 CDI Barcelona
First Big Tour Winners, Spain and Britain Take the Podium at 2015 BCN Dressage Tour
Michael Eilberg and Woodlander Farouche Impress at 2015 BCN Dressage Tour
2015 Barcelona Dressage Tour Ready for Kick Off
The 2015 Barcelona Dressage Tour is Around the Corner