Devroe's Tidy Ride Earns Him 2026 CDI Opglabbeek 3* Grand Prix Victory

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

Belgian WEG team rider Jeroen Devroe earned the victory in the 3* Grand Prix class at the 2026 CDI Opglabbeek on Thursday afternoon 29 October 2026. Devroe's tidy ride in a class of 32 competitors gave him the trophy despite some strict scoring by the judges.

Festival 4 Dressage

The Festival 4 Dressage, an international dressage competition organized by Belgian dressage aficionado Josy Everars, returned to Sentower Park in Opglabbeek, Belgium, after a three-year layover in Aachen.

The CDI Opglabbeek was founded in 2021 and held at Sentower Park through 2022 but moved to the CHIO Aachen show grounds for a three-year cycle from 2023 through 2025. This year the World Equestrian Games prevented the Festival from taking place in Aachen and the event moved back to Sentower Park, on a new date in October instead of March/April, turning it into an indoor show. 

With Sentower Park being one of Europe's leading equestrian competition center and a hotspot for CSI show jumpers, this October weekend got reserved for dressage and the participants are raving about the facilities, particularly because of the brand-new built, huge permanent boxes and stabling area for the horses. Arguably no other venue in Europe provides better and more comfortable stabling for the horses than in Opglabbeek.

Tidy Ride

As last rider to go in the field, Jeroen Devroe and his 12-year old KWPN gelding Jackpot (by Everdale x Jazz) had to beat a 68,956% score for the trophy. The pair's last CDI in Deauville  in September yielded a winning score of 71,404%, so Devroe and his liver chestnut were on a winning streak. 

The pair stood out with its very clean and tidy riding. While the Everdale x Jazz offspring had big eyes on the surrounding, he remained obedient and listening to his rider, who also kept his cool and did not push or stress his horse. This resulted in a very pleasant to watch test with highlights in the tempi changes and tot half passes. The pirouettes were small but rather counter bent, and there was a little hesitation in the zig zag but overall it was a neat ride that delivered a 70,174% score. 

The judges panel for this 3* Grand Prix class included Wolters, Torrente, Prip, Lopes, Smeets. Wolters had the low score of 67,717% (5th) while all four other judges had the Belgian pair first with Torrente's 72.391% as high score. 

Capellmann Finds Perfect Fir

Former World Champion (2002) Nadine Capellmann stepped out of the limelight of high performance sport in the mid 2010s when she sold her Grand Prix horses Girasol (to Morgan Barbancon) and Dark Dynamic (to Sarah Runge). The Wurselen based rider of course kept on riding and showed occasionally both nationally and internationally for fun. In the past decade she presented horses such as Look at Me, Forpost, Lagerfeld K, and Waitoni in international classes. 

Aboard the 12-year old Westfalian mare Antonia (by All at Once x Ehrenpreis x Bormio xx), Nadine seems to have found the perfect fit for his ambitions. The elegant German rider matches the elegance of her dark bay mare and is the right size for her. Antonia was previously trained and shown by Heiner Schiergen, who has helped Nadine in the past (most well known with Elvis VA).  Nadine debuted the mare internationally at the Aachen Dressage days last May but got excused from the test. Things were much different today in Opglabbeek where Antonio showed off lovely piaffe-passage work although the mare needed to be a bit more up in the poll. The trot extensions were rather conservative and there was a break in the last one. The problem point today were the one tempi changes, otherwise the score would have neared the seventy marker. Today they were second with 68,956

From Routine to Work in Progress

French Camille Judet Cheret saddled Taiwanese Joan Chen's 12-year old Trakehner gelding Donaustern (by Herbstkonig x Donauwalzer) and landed third place with 67.891%. The duo has been competing internationally since March 2025 and Opglabbeek is their 8th CDI so far.  Donaustern exudes "Trakehner" with his very refined head, expressive frog eyes, long elegant legs and a long back (like Dalera BB).  The passage work was very nice although the horse became crooked to the left in the first piaffe and the collected walk was tight in the back and prancey. The horse looked comfortable and secure in the Grand Prix work. 

While Judet and Donaustern embodied test routine, Charlotte Fry literally and figuratively had her hands full with the young and inexperienced Grand Prix horse Nalegro. The 8-year old KWPN gelding (by Painted Black x Negro) has plenty of quality for the Grand Prix work but today looked totally out of his depth.

The horse is powerful and has a strong, pushing hindleg. Fry did her best to control her black Ferrari but he just went full steam ahead while the half halting was heavy handed and his tongue visibly retracted. The passage had its nice moments, the piaffes were on the spot though leaning on the shoulders. The two's were straight, but the horse ground its teeth and grunted in every flying change. It was still too much work in progress, though that is no surprise with the gelding being just 8 years old. His time will come.

The judges' panel - of course - struggled to score the current World Champion on a less well known horse. Lottie's star appeal and halo helped to push the scores up in the good parts of the tests, but the contact issues were undeniable. Only Belgian judges Olivier Smeets had his glasses on and saw what was happening. He scored it 65.761% while the others were between 66.7%(Prip) and 69.13% (Wolters). 

Anna Schölermann, who rode on the German team at the 2025 European Under 25 Championships, came to Opglabbeek with Indian Olympian Anush Agarwalla's 10-year old Westfalian gelding Flynn (by Fursten-Look x Vitalis). The pair presented a wonderful silhouette in the passage, but the piaffe was still a bit unbalanced and wide in front. The very graceful mover showed ground covering trot extensions, but still struggled in the one tempi changes. They finished fifth with 67,631%. Schölermann trains with and rides for Hubertus Schmidt.

-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

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