Raphael Netz Does a Last Minute Horse Swap for 2026 World Cup Finals

Dressage

Germany

German Raphael Netz has made a last minute swap in horses for the 2026 World Cup Finals in Fort Worth, TX (USA) on 8 - 12 April 2026. He will not be taking Great Escape Camelot.

Fourth on the WEL Ranking

The 27-year old Netz finished fourth on the Western European League World Cup ranking after the final qualifier in 's Hertogenbosch. He stayed ahead of multiple World Cup winner and countrymate Isabell Werth.

He competed two horses this season so had his pick in rides. With Sonja Krall and There Boss' 15-year old KWPN gelding Great Escape Camelot (by Johnson x Turbo Magic) he competed at the CDI-W's in Bialy Las (POL), Herning (DEN), Stuttgart (GER) and Neumunster (GER).

Aboard his second Grand Prix horse, Sonja Krall's 13-year old Baden Wurttemberger Dieudonne (by Dante Weltino x Sir Donnerhall) he showed at the CDI-W Basel (SUI) and 's Hertogenbosch (NED). This brought his tally to a total of 6 world cup qualifiers this season, the maximum amount allowed.

Horse Swap

After Den Bosch Netz had originally declared to take Great Escape Camelot to the Final in Texas, but the Bavarian based rider has now made a last minute change.

Netz with Camelot at the 2025 CDI-W Stuttgart

"The 15-year-old gelding lost a shoe in the pasture and consequently developed a hoof abscess," the German equestrian federation stated. To Eurodressage Raphael explained that, "it was originally planned that Great Escape Camelot would go. It's just very bad timing and a little unlucky because we all know he'll be fine next week, but that's too late for us as we leave tomorrow night."

Netz is lucky that his substitute horse has been accepted, considering the deadline passed for the complicated process of handling the paperwork (60-day residency papers, mandatory pre-export blood testing, health papers). The official shipper is Peden Bloodstock.

"The swap was easy for us, because the 60-day paperwork before the flight, you have to do blood test, residency papers, health papers and all the time I did it for both horses," he explained. "Because both horses qualified and I didn't want to miss anything and it was quite easy to do it for two horses if you do it for one. Basically for now it was one call to switch horses because everything was prepared already."