Prince of Hope and Jaccardo Win "Buffalo" and "Lovsta" Developing Horse Classes at 2025 CDIO Wellington

-- GDF press release, edited by Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion) 

The small tour horse Prince of Hope and emerging big tour horse Jaccardo became the winners of the national developing PSG and GP horse "future challenge classes" held in the international arena during the 2025 CDIO Wellington on 20 - 23 February 2025. 

These national tests, ridden in the main international arena at the Global Dressage Festival, gain increasing popularity as the entry fee is waived and the tests scored by the CDI judges. The division is rapidly developing into a premier event to showcase talented FEI horses as future hopefuls for Grand Prix sport as well as for marketing purposes.

Buffalo PSG Challenge: Prince of Hope

Fifteen up-and-coming small tour horses lined out in the nation Buffalo Wild Wings Future Challenge class for developing Prix St. Georges horses at the CDIO Wellington on Sunday 23 February 2025, the closing day of action in week seven of the 2025  Global Dressage Festival.

The top three all finished within half a percentage point of each other, and the top two horses—who both picked up tickets to the final in GDF 12—were sired by sons of Totilas. 

U.S. athletes filled the top three spots, with Rebecca Cohen piloting Carol Cohen Hodess and Blake Hodess’ nine-year-old Prince Of Hope (by Total Hope x Bellagio), to 70.559% and the blue sash. Ashley Holzer was the other qualifier for the final, producing a 70.059% test on her own Toto Jr. son Liberty L, another nine-year-old gelding. Andrea Woodard was just 0.05 percentage points behind with a 70% test on Enter At A LLC’s eight-year-old Revolution mare, Roxette. 

Cohen now has a horse qualified for the final of both Future Challenges divisions at small and big tour level, which had been one of her main goals this year. 

“This season I wanted to have my young grand prix horse [Jameson, whom she qualified with a win in week three’s Lövsta Future Challenge] and Prince in the [Buffalo Wild Wings] final, so now I’ve accomplished that and I’m really excited,” she said.

Cohen is a native of Wellington and trains out of her mother Carol’s 3 Graces Dressage, who also sponsors the GDF series. As well as having a barn full of dressage horses, Rebecca Cohen is also an avid polo player.

She bought Prince Of Hope in the summer of 2022 when he was six, having sourced him through her trainer Jan Brink in Sweden. He is bred by Siw Wreme Mannerhorn and was previously shown by Ida-Linn Lundholm  and Mattias Jansson. 

“It’s been a really fun journey to develop him to a small tour horse, especially considering that when I first got Prince he got injured and had a year off,” she said. “I’m really happy about today. He gets better and better every time I go in there. Even if the scores don’t always show an upward trend, I feel that he’s more with me and knows his job.

“His highlights are always the trot work and the canter pirouettes. The changes I still need to work on; he’s not as strong in them and goes a bit from side to side, but with more strength and time they’ll get better,” she continued. “He’s the funniest horse ever. He’ll never bite or kick though he pulls faces and has an attitude, but he’s sweet.”

Cohen has been competing at GDF since its inception, rising through the ranks from juniors. She appreciates the broad opportunities the showground offers.  

“I’ve been living here my whole life and I’m turning 30 this year,” she added. “It’s been great to have a place to go back to all the time and the horses really enjoy competing here. Having this many shows so close to home has also helped develop me as a rider. The developing classes are a super opportunity to get the horses in the big arena without the pressure of doing a full CDI. Both the Lövsta and Buffalo Wild Wings classes are wonderful.” 

She receives coaching from Swede Johan Svensson during her winter in Wellington.

Lövsta Future Challenge: Jaccardo

Week seven held the next qualifier for the Lövsta Future Challenge for Developing Grand Prix horses on Friday afternoon 21 February 2025. Combinations ride the Intermediate II as practice for their emerging grand prix horses.

Canada’s Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu led the charge, more than 2.5 percentage points clear of her rivals. She rode Jill Irving’s 11-year-old KWPN gelding Jaccardo (by Desperado x Jazz) to a unanimous 71.353% victory to punch her card for the final in week 12.

The chunky chestnut sold to the USA in 2021 out of Dutch Saskia van Es' stable. He was purchased by Victoria Lunt for Mary Bahniuk to ride, but the horse was rather quickly resold to Jill Irving. She put him in training with fellow Canadian team rider Brittany Fraser. In the Lovsta test, Jaccardo presented himself as a powerful, muscled horse with a good passage and scopey flying changes, but the work still looked unpolished and sort of all over the place. The talent is certainly there and is clearly in the incubator. 

Erin Nichols (USA) booked the other qualifying spot on offer by finishing second on Premiere Sport Horses’ 10-year-old gelding, Kind Pleasure, on a score of 68.735%. Nichols purchased Kind Pleasure in the Netherlands less than a year ago. He is by Governor out of Charlotte Rogerson's Swiss Grand Prix team horse Famora (by Blue Hors Zack x Krack C) and was competed in The Netherlands by Femke de Laat. The bay is a gorgeous horse, very eye catching, soft and appealing. He was licking all the sugar from his mouth and his tongue showed at times, even though Nichols kept a soft contact and never squeezed the horse in the frame. The easy two tempi changes and soft footed passage were highlights. In general the horse could be a bit more in front of the aids. 

The third place went to Hope Beerling (AUS), who logged 67.353% on Sarah Colson’s nine-year-old Evaslunds Daydream (by Hesselhøj Donkey Boy x Doolittle. The dark bay could have been more open in the throatlatch and stretching into the contact. The mare probably had the best walk of the day and showed good two tempi changes, but there was a bobble in the ones and she changed lead in the left extended canter. 

The "Lovsta" class was judged by experienced panelists Henning Lehrmann, Elisabeth Max-Theurer, Michael Osinski, Katrina Wüst, and "newcomer" Sascha Schulz. Aside from the top two ranked pairs the scores went all over the place and the spread between judges was significant.  Beerling and Evaslunds Daydream's high score was 69.559%, the low score 63.971%. Sixth placed pair Jane Cleveland and Danish mare Stokbroens Touch (by Temptation x Solos Landtinus) had marks from 61.324% to 67.794%. U.S. CDIO team rider Jennifer Williams and 11-year old KWPN bred Jive V (by Florencio x Krack C) saw scores posted between 59.853% to 63.824%. Marks in general in the class were low, but most riders struggled to produce fault-free tests despite presenting horses talented for Grand Prix.

Stokbroens Touch is a big powerful mare who always had the poll as highest point and probably showed the smoothest transitions in and out of piaffe. Overall she needed to move the hindlegs more under in piaffe and the hiccups in the one tempi changes and a flying change at X two strides late to the aids pushed the score down. Williams' Jive V was a bit conservative in the work today, lacking some engagement from behind and collection in the passage. The work was too tentative on the day. 

The KWPN gelding King VE (by Governor x Johnson) was ridden by Jill Irving’s friend, Dutch former youth team rider Chantal van Lanen, who had Marten Luiten by her side as groom and support. The bright bay is a strong mover, quite Dutch with plenty of knee action and a hindleg always engaged under the body. He was strong in the contact though and the half halts were not subtle. There were big flying changes in the two tempi and the extended walk was very nice. 

Jaimey Irwin was back this week with Flirtfaktor (by Fursten-Look x Furst Romancier). He rode the chestnut very carefully, managing the piaffe and passage step by step. The two tempi changes  were uphill, the ones okay, but overall the horse should carry himself a little more instead of relying on the support of the rider. 

- Photos © Astrid Appels - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED / NO SCREEN SHOTS for social media

If interested in photos, please send me an email. Florida rates apply for this horse show as our colleague Sue Stickle is the official photographer.

Related Links
Scores: 2025 CDIO Wellington
Eger’s Epic Evening Produces Personal Best For Individual Nations Cup Gold
Germany Notches Fifth Straight Nations Cup Victory in Wellington
Germany Seeks Series Three-peat as 2025 FEI Nations Cup Starts in Wellington