Sysojeva Wins Polish Grand Prix Title and World Cup Qualifier at 2024 CDI-W Bialy Las

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2024 CDI-W Bialy Las

-- by Agata Grosicka, edited by Eurodressage - Photos © Lukasz Kowalski

The 2024 CDI-W Bialy on 28 August - 1 September 2024 hosted the annual Polish Dressage Championships and the combined event turned out to be a great opportunity for Lithuanian born Olympian Sandra Sysojeva to win her first title of Polish Champion and claim the World Cup qualifier.

After placing 15th in the Kur to Music at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Sysojeva was everybody’s favourite to win.

Sysojeva Supreme

It was the fourth Polish Dressage Championships in a row organized at Paulina and Grzegorz Przybylscy's stable in Bialy Las, their third CDI and second consecutive World Cup qualifier.

Nine Polish riders were added to the mix of 14 competitors in the CDI-W big tour, which was dominated by Sysojeva on her 8-year old Oldenburg mare Maxima Bella (by Millennium x Christ). While rumours were rife at the time that the black mare had sold to the U.S.A., Sysojeva kept denying every sale and just continued showing the mare in an already very busy season for the 8-year olds.

In Bialy Las she won the Grand Prix with 73.761% and the Kur with 79.045%. Sysojeva was thrilled.

“For me it’s the first Polish Championships and it looks like everything starts from the very beginning. I had 14 years in Lithuania competing and winning, here it’s like a new book and new chapter. And Olympics – I don’t even know how to describe this feeling. Of course I’m excited and happy that we got there and with my mare which is really young and unexperienced we did very well, even better than we expected, I’m so much thankful for her, this horse is everything for me," said Sandra.

"This is my third WC qualifier in the season, after that we want to compete maybe once more – there are many shows to choose from: in the autumn Tallin, Wrocław, Motesice, then to get some training and rest for the winter."

Sandra is now on a roll and planning ahead for 2025.

"We plan to go more far away next year than Europe and will see how we manage, because it’s of course costly. Dominika Kraśko who has been a huge support to me, comes with me to competitions. We stayed in Belgium just before Paris. We decided to stay calm and we were training together. I’m not going to change anything now, if it works, it works."

Sysojeva began competing for Poland this year and has worked her way to the top

"I don’t think of myself as any leader of the team – for me it’s better to stay calm and less visible," she said. "I’m doing it more for myself and for pleasure – it is the payment for my job. Now we are in focus and we have to work even more hard and show a good example to others," she concluded.

Netz Runner-up

German Raphael Netz, who was last year's CDI-W runner-up, returned to Biały Las to be placed second again on Great Escape Camelot (by Johnson x Turbo Magic). He scored 76.420% with his freestyle based on Nordic music and How to Train Your Dragon.

Initially a reserve rider for the German Olympic team, Netz got removed for that spot after having issues with filling out his personal whereabouts. It was a lesson learnt and his second place in Bialy Las turned out to be a nice consolation for a missed opportunity.

“Last year here at Biały Las it was my first world cup qualifier and I enjoyed it so much that I thought it might be a good idea to start the season here again," said Raphael. "During the test we had some very good moments and even got ten for the rein back which makes me really proud. I hope it’s a good sign that I’m here again. Last year was for me just phenomenal to compete in the first World Cup and make it to the finals as the newcomer. I really enjoyed it."

Raphael wants to qualify for the 2025 World Cup Finals in Switzerland but hasn't drawn out an exact plan yet.

"I’m not quite sure yet which competitions we’re going to go. You can’t plan the whole season ahead, you have to decide after each show where to go next. Having been in Riyad last year makes it a goal to be in Basel next year but I know it’s tough to make it there again. I don’t want to focus too much on that – I want to focus on having beautiful shows with my horse Camelot."

Netz describes his horse as a typical Johnson, just like his 2021 European Under 25 Championship gold medal winner Elastico.

"When Camelot arrived in our barn, I had no clue about him," he said. "I rode him for half an hour as a trial ride and then I went to his owners and asked; “is it possible that he’s by Johnson?” and they were laughing because it was correct because I could feel that in some moments, especially the canter work and the will to do it right, he’s similar to Elastico."

For Raphael 2024 was an action packed year with being Olympic short-listed as an important phase in his career.

"I thought I might not have been quite ready for the task," he confessed. "Because there are so many things in the Olympic Games that are so different, things that I just didn’t know and things that in the heat of excitement might have been just dropped under the table and when I realized what was missing it was too late already. Luckily I realized it when we were only reserve and of course I hope to make it on that list again in my future and of course with no mistakes this time.”

Brand New Podium at Polish Championships

In the absence of last year's Polish Champion Żaneta Skowrońska – Kozubik, German born Susanne Krohn took her chance and won her first silver medal at a Polish Championships.

Krohn, who was on Polish reserve list for Paris 2024, was very thrilled with the medal:

“It feels amazing. I have never believed that I could be second. So I’m really thankful and happy," said Susanne. "I only wanted to have a nice ride with my horse Titolas who is only 12 and who developed well this season so I’m really lucky that he is getting better and better. Our pirouettes were the highlight and I’m really glad that all the flying changes went well. It is his strong side to go forward and to come back really fast. He is very rideable and I hoped people could see that."

Now I will get next tournaments and give him good feeling and show all the good parts of his. I want to keep good relationship with him on tournaments. At home he really trusts me and I want to bring that into arena. Both Sandra and Katarzyna are experienced riders. I always watched them at warmup and try to be like them so it’s nice to stand in the middle of them now.”

The bronze Medal went to the double Olympian and Polish routinier, Katarzyna Milczarek on her Lusitano stallion Guapo.

Poland Improving as a Dressage Nation

The panel of judges included Francis Verbeek van Rooij from NED, Clive Halsall from GBR, Kirsten Soegaard from DEN, Maria Colliander form FIN, Thomas Kessler form GER, Eva-Maria Vint-Warmington from EST, Agnieszka Majewska from POL and the chair was Marlena Gruca-Rucińska from POL.

Maria Colliander commented, “I have positive impression definitely. It’s a nice place, well-run, super friendly andl it looks safe for the horses. For bigger competitions they need two arenas, yet all the infrastructure is in place and it’s quite nice. This place is a lot more professional that the ones I’ve seen in Poland before. Riding-wise I can see some positive development – we had variety of rides, not everything is to my liking. Overally I think the best quality was in Children class – they were all more or less correct and some of them were really nice."

The Polish Equestrian Federation opened the bidding process for organising next year's edition of the Polish Championships. Paulina Przybylska – the owner of Biały Las - has placed her bid.

“I am very happy that we are doing this competition," said Przybylska. "I will do my best to organize a CDI for as long as possible. I like the concept of having it together with Polish Championships because our competitors are getting the opportunity to be judged by top international judges and it increases the significance of Polish championships which should be the most important event for riders in Poland."

She continued, "this year is special because of Paris but I'm glad that riders like Raphael Netz are coming back to us. It gives me wings and I want to keep on doing it. I have great sentiments towards dressage as a rider and now I am fulfilled from the organizational point of view. It's a lot of stress and a lot of work. This is a big challenge, but as you can see, everything now goes with the flow. We have organized four editions of Polish Championships and two CDI-Ws and of course we will take part in the tender for the next Championships, if we do not win, we will organize a CDI anyway, maybe together with the national competition."

Bialy Las show organizers Paulina and Grzegorz Przybylska

Przybylska believes that this edition was extra special because of the ground jury.

"I have the best judges," she stated. "It's so nice to work with them that it's hard for me to choose who to invite next year because I have to rotate the judges who on the other hand have a really tight schedule. It gets easier every year

We are thinking about enlarging the arena to accommodate a second one, but the warmup area close to the stables should stay where it is, to have it comfy and calm for the riders and horses. There are more and more big centers of high quality in Poland I want to keep ours cosy as everything we do, we do for riders. We are here for them. Their opinion and feedback after the show are really important for me including details I may not even be aware of."

Results - 2024 Polish Dressage Championships - Bialy Las

Seniors

1 Sandra Sysojeva - Maxima Bella - 73,761 - 79,045 --- 152,806
2 Susanne Krohn - Titolas - 65,457 - 71,365 --- 136,822
3 Katarzyna Milczarek - Guapo - 64,261 - 72,275 --- 136,536
4 Karolina Mazurek - Cinnamon - 63,043 - 69,295 --- 132,338
5 Olga Safronova - Sandro D'amour - 60,304 - 69,480 --- 129,784
6 Filip Kowalski - Don Disney - 63,261 - 66,485 --- 129,746
7 Filip Poszumski - Raul - 61,435 - 68,105 --- 129,540
8 Aleksandra Poplawska - Copernico - 60,913 - 68,280 --- 129,193
9 Ilona Janas - Dark Knight - 62,217 - 65,735 --- 127,952
Hanna Suchan - Sternik - 59,913 - 59,913

Under 25

1 Maria Stelmaszyk - Galapagos - 64,029 (1) 61,718 (1) 63,725 (1) --- 189,472
Oliwia Laferi-sapiej - Carte Blanche - 63,294 (2) 56,257 (3) DNS ---- 119,551
Jagoda Dąbrowska - Go Go Borneo - 60,412 (3) 58,077 (2) DNS ---- 118,489

Young Riders

1 Natalia Plata - Dolcetto - 67,647 (2) 69,765 (1) 73,700 (1) ---- 211,112
2 Caroline Pawluk - Furst Fernando - 70,677 (1) 67,941 (2) 70,475 (2) ---- 209,093
3 Julia Jokiel - J'adore - 65,353 (4) 65,382 (4) 69,780 (3) ---- 200,515
4 Klaudia Halela - Z O. O. Chikoto - 65,294 (5) 64,441 (7) 67,400 (4) ---- 197,135
5 Dominika Siudzińska - Knoxville - 65,235 (6) 64,588 (6) 65,740 (6) ---- 195,563
6 Ewa Golubinska - Strahlemann - 61,088 (8) 67,000 (3) 66,985 (5) ---- 195,073
7 Wiktor Wojtarowicz - Gigi Lady - 66,882 (3) 64,971 (5) 62,275 (8) ---- 194,128
8 Alicja Stępień - Devil Diamond - 61,765 (7) 60,823 (9) 62,415 (7) ---- 185,003
Martyna Baściuk - Baraż - 61,088 (8) 62,382 (8) Ret ---- 123,470

Juniors Riders

1 Veronica Pawluk - Falette - 71,768 (1) 71,470 (1) 72,300 (1) ---- 215,538
2 Weronika Usiadek - Mr. Despo - 68,283 (2) 69,118 (2) 67,983 (3) ---- 205,384
3 Anna Blonska - James Grant - 65,960 (5) 66,912 (3) 70,192 (2) ---- 203,064
4 Aleksandra Blachno - Travenort's Diabolo - 66,919 (3) 66,569 (4) 65,517 (6) ---- 199,005
5 Maria Adamowicz - Furstin Feenstaub - 66,869 (4) 66,078 (6) 62,258 (10) ---- 195,205
6 Taja Zoll - I'm a Dreamer Vh Bloemenhof - 63,434 (9) 62,892 (9) 67,225 (4) ---- 193,551
7 Zofia Kaczmarek Lkj Lewada Lady Legende - 61,717 (11) 66,177 (5) 65,417 (7) ---- 193,311
8 Julia Preisner Wkj Lublin Sj Tarzymiechy Icoon - 65,303 (6) 64,902 (7) 60,283 (12) ---- 190,488
9 Maja Miecielska Klub Jeździecki Bonanza Korona - 61,919 (10) 61,128 (12) 65,583 (5) ---- 188,630
10 Julianna Przybyła - Foton / Davindus - 63,838 (8) 62,010 (10) 61,225 (11) ---- 187,073
11 Maria Walczyńska - Graczyk - Maxim K.b. - 63,990 (7) 63,333 (8) 59,308 (13) ---- 186,631
12 Hanna Mikołajczyk - Generation - 59,747 (15) 60,735 (13) 64,633 (8) ---- 185,115
13 Zuzanna Pranczk - First Surprise - 59,950 (14) 61,274 (11) 63,467 (9) ---- 184,691
Anna Krawczyk - Dedal - 60,859 (12) 59,755 (14) DNS ---- 120,614
Hanna Moczkowska - First William P - 60,707 (13) 57,304 (15) DNS ---- 118,011

Children:

1 Liwia Strzeszewska - Mombasa / Harley Zof - 76,161 (1) 76,400 (1) 72,885 (2) ---- 225,446
2 Julia Wójtowicz - Shadow - 72,286 (3) 76,000 (2) 73,037 (1) ---- 221,323
3 Aleksandra Rozeslanska - Fursten Spinne Up U - 72,482 (2) 72,450 (3) 71,611 (3) ---- 216,543
4 Aleksandra Machniewicz - Baldessarini - 70,625 (4) 70,825 (5) 69,505 (4) ---- 210,955
Wiktoria Cwalina - Diarados- 71,100 (4) 68,722 (5) DNS ---- 205,608