Dufour Wins the 2024 CDI Stockholm Top 10, Ahum Top 6

Cathrine Dufour and Mount St. John Freestyle became the winners of the "Lovsta Top 10" 5* dressage competition held at the Stockholm International Horse Show on 29 - 30 November 2024.

Top 10, Sort Of

The Lovsta Top 10, which started out as the Saab Top 10 in 2017, is an interesting initiative which strives to be a competition including the highest FEI ranked dressage riders. In principle the concept was brilliant, but in practice it stayed far from it as the show is an invitation based event and not all top ranked riders get invited or agree to come. Two of the ten starting places are allocated through a wild card system by the organizer.

Over the years plenty of stars rode at the beautifully organized winter event of which the arena boasts the biggest LED screen as backdrop and this year's edition had a total prize money purse of 217,000 euro. There is plenty of show and spectacle, but also the riding piques the interest. 

This year the Top 10 boasted a field or riders ranked between position 1 and 60 on the FEI Riders ranking. Fortunately there were three mega combinations to make the Top 10 a "Dancing with the Stars". Dufour, Werth, and Van Liere battled it out for the first time since the Paris Olympics. Unfortunately the entry field thinned out to just six starters in  the freestyle.

Before the show Lone Bang Zindorff (ranked 60th) withdrew Thranengaards Rostov, bringing the field down to 9. At the show Henri Ruoste (ranked 28th) withdrew Tiffany's Diamond before the Grand Prix.  With no riders on standby to fill in for drop outs the Grand Prix kicked off with 8 pairs, but in the class Nanna Skodborg Merrald got eliminated on Znickers (blood was detected at the bit check) and Daniel Bachmann Andersen withdrew Marshall Bell when the gelding threw the tongue over the bit at the start of the test.

That left just 6 riders in the "Top 10" contesting the Kur to Music, which is quite unfortunate for the organizers (and spectators) who certainly strive to stage the best competition. Nevertheless the crowds were treated to some great freestyles.

Dufour In Charge

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and the 15-year old Hanoverian mare Mount St. John Freestyle (by Fidermark x Donnerhall) won the Grand Prix with 81.609% staying 2.5% ahead of Paris individual silver medal winner Isabell Werth on Wendy (by Sezuan x Soprano). In the Kur to Music Dufour reconfirmed her supremacy over the most decorated dressage rider in the world with a personal best score of 90.715%.

Judges Raphaël Saleh, Susanne Baarup, Magnus Ringmark, Frederico Pinteus, and Annette Fransén Iacobaéus officiated and they all put Dufour in first place. The 32-year old rode her freestyle based on "Formidable" (Stromae) and "My Heart will go on" (Celine Dion). The freshly clipped Freestyle looked like a cute panda with her bright bay eyes and darker coat and she appeared to be working happily for her rider. The mouth however was frequently gaping and all the sugar/fluff in the world couldn't cover it up. While the curb was now more correctly fitted than at the Olympics, the mare still responds to the slightest contact despite Dufour's soft hands. At all times the combination presented a pleasant silhouette with the mare working with ears pricked and quiet, normal moving tail. Although Cathrine used her leg aids frequently, the overall impression was that the mare looked less pushed than with her previous rider.  The extended trots were lovely and correct. The transitions in and out of piaffe smooth, one piaffe was very well on the spot but a bit leaning on the forehand. The passage at times was more a slow trot and could have been more engaged from behind. The passage half passes were slightly underwhelming as the left one looked a bit difficult and the right one a slow trot, but the trot half passes were delightful. There was good collected walk with a piaffe turn straight into a canter pirouette. The extended canter was good but the nose could have come out a fraction more so the lengthening is also a bit more in the frame, not just the stride. The two tempi changes were effortless, the ones went smoothly although the changes to the right appeared a bit shorter. The one tempi joker line went well. There was good marching in the extended walk with a very clear V-rhythm, transitioning into a canter pirouette and straight into a piaffe pirouette, upping the technical difficulty. The  end halt was a tiny bit mobile (scores for the two halts were between 6.5 and 9!). Overall it was a lovely test with an eagerly working horse. 

Smooth Operator

“She allows me to ride super nicely and smoothly, making everything easier,” said Laudrup-Dufour after the Kur. "She is just wonderful, and I felt today that she was a tiny bit sharper, in a good way. I really feel I can start dancing to the music with her now. She allows me to ride super nicely and smoothly, making everything easier. The tricky lines were really successful today, and I managed to perform the big, difficult elements very nicely and smoothly."

Dufour scored a personal best with 90.715%. "It's always a nice feeling to come out of the ring when you've managed to stay with the music and do everything the way you dreamed. But of course, scoring over 90 percent and achieving a personal best made me really, really proud," she said.

Cathrine has been riding Freestyle little over a year. She was instrumental for Charlotte Dujardin to continue her top sport career after the retirement of Valegro and earned her team and kur bronze at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon. Freestyle missed out on the 2021 Olympics due to an injury and took a long time to come back. Owner Emma Blundell nurtured her back to fitness, competed her briefly herself and then partnered with Dufour in the summer of 2023.

"When we started talking, we didn't really know if she could return to top-level sport," said Cathrine. "But from the first rising trot I did on the long side, I felt there was something very unique in this match. So yes, from day one, it's been amazing. Having Emma in the team has been wonderful, and it’s been such a fun journey."

With two wins in Stockholm, Dufour took home around 72,000 euro in prize money.

Silver Surfer

Isabell Werth and Bolette Wandt's 10-year old Danish mare Wendy are less than one year into their partnership and have been hitting silver at the major shows this year. After winning the CDIO  Aachen they won team gold and individual silver at the Olympics and now finished second again in Stockholm after clinching the World Cup qualifier in Stuttgart.

Werth rode to Michael Erdmann's beautifully composed freestyle based on "Stumbling In" and Barry Manilow's "Oh Mandy". The halt at entry was not immobile (scores for halt 6.5 - 9.0 !), but the first passage voltes and piaffe were very rhythmical and expressive. Wendy swings the right hind leg out in passage and Isabell solves this by often bending the horse to the right, so the straightness is not always on point. The half pass left was very well ridden, while the passage half pass to the right was not a half pass but more a straight line. The rhythm was solid though and there was an easy transition into piaffe. Overall the piaffe is improving in the balance as it is a bit more off the forehand. The trot half passes were really good. The extended trot on the centerline had hardly any overtrack (7.5 - 8). Werth keeps her hands on the withers but rides this mare quite on the curb and also with Wendy the foam appears extra white.  The extended walk was very good, active and with plenty of overstep. There was an issue in the collected walk and the canter strike off failed (very late to the aids). The zig zag was good as was the extended canter. The two tempi changes were okay, but the mare got short behind in the ones, particularly with the left hindleg.  This shorter left stride is also visible in each preparatory stride in the 2s in which she shortens the left hind leg. Werth finished her freestyle with a lovely piaffe pirouette at the end that was very steady in the rhythm.

She scored 89.065% to place second.  "She was really good today, more focused and much better even though she was already good yesterday. We have to remember she is just 10 years old. It's amazing, and it's a pleasure to ride her," said Isabell Werth.

"Hermie" Third

Dutch Dinja van Liere and Joop van Uytert and Jan Anker's 12-year old KWPN stallion Hermes (by Easy Game x Flemmingh) landed third place with 84.805%.

Van Liere rode her high energy - high tempo Spice Girls freestyle which matches Hermes' electricity. He backstepped in the halt at entry (score 7 - 9) and also in one piaffe there was a bit of backstepping with the right hind leg, but  the pi-pa was off the ground and active. Van Liere rode a  good collected walk, and there was good relaxation and rhythm in he extended walk. The two's were nice, the ones a little croup high at the start. The double pirouette left started a bit big and then got better. In the extended canter there could have been more lengthening of frame as Hermes' nose consistently stays on the vertical even in the lengthenings. There was a good joker line of twos, but there was a bobble before the second pirouette. The transition down to trot was hesitant, but a good trot extension and piaffe turn following. Van Liere finished with a straight passage line but the end halt was not entirely square.

"Today he was a little too hot, and we had a couple of hiccups. We need to find the perfect balance. But he's really matured; he’s not spooky anymore around the arena," said Dinja van Liere.

The Other Three

Patrik Kittel and Arlette Jasper-Kohl's 12-year old Westfalian mare Forever Young HRH (by Furst Fugger x Don Bosco) finished fourth. Kittel also relies on Michael Erdmann for his compositions and the quality of the composition far exceeds many other freestyles you hear nowadays. What was most striking in Kittel's ride last weekend was that for the first time we've seen him ride with the curb rein in a loop. Forever Young is also the horse which he rides in a snaffle at the Swedish nationals. In Stockholm the curb rein was not on firmly (like with Touchdown and Jovian) and it instantly leads to a much more pleasant picture and silhouette. Yes, it also leads to a tiny loss of accuracy and control of the hindlegs but well worth it. They scored 82.060%

Maria von Essen borrowed Dufour's Les Miserables freestyle which was made for Bohemian in 2021.Von Essen and the 12-year old KWPN bred Invoice (by Jazz x Ferro) posted a personal best of 80.885%. The score got affected by a mistake in the two tempi changes. 

Belgian Larissa Pauluis and the Lepage family's 14-year old KWPN bred Flambeau (by Ampere x Zeoliet) closed the ranks in sixth place with a personal best of 80.660%

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' opinion about the competition)  

Related Links
Scores: 2024 CDI Stockholm