Twofold world champion Sezuan succeeded to impress the judges once again this year.
The black son of Blue Hors Zack impressed this morning with his fantastic uphill canter, for which he received a whopping 10. The judges also granted him the ultimate grade for his perspective as a dressage horse. Chairman Dr. Dietrich Plewa: “Sezuan was in top shape today. Of course he possesses lots of talent, great movements and a very good canter by nature. However, today also the technical aspect of his test was perfectly executed, and this is remarkable for a horse of only seven years old. Furthermore, he performed all the figures with lots of expression and without any pressure. That’s exactly what we want to see.” A 9.3 for the trot, an 8.0 for the walk and a 9.5 for the submission brought the score to a magnificent total of 95.200%. The technical score of 81.64% meant an average of 88.420% and caused the black Oldenburg an DWB approved stallion to grab the lead.
Runner-up FBW Fairplay H, a son of the Fürst Hohenstein, saw his quality canter be rewarded with a 9! Plewa: “FBW Fairplay H stood out in the way he executed primarily the canter figures. Everything seemed to go easy and effortless. He was very focused on his rider.” Ines Knoll presented the gelding in a sympathetic manner and with an 8.5 for submission and perspective, an 8.3 for the trot and a 7.8 for the walk, the pair was just ahead of number 3: Jeanna Hogberg with the SWB-horse Fiorucci HT, sired by Florencio I. This gelding also scored well for his trot, perspective and submission: three times an 8.5! His overall score was 77.619%. Plewa: “This pair is 100% on the right track training-wise. This horse is always focused on his rider, wants to do his best and Jeanna rides him with the needed ‘fingerspitzengefühl’: this way she brings out the best in her horse.” The judges were satisfied with the quality of the seven-year-old horses, that are competing at this championship for the first time. “The discrepancies between the horses that are low in the rankings and the top horses was quite big, however especially the top half of the rankings entailed lots of quality.”
The best 12 horses of today may come back in the final on Sunday. In the small final tomorrow, the remaining pairs compete again for the last 3 tickets for the final.
Great Lady TC wins small final five-year-old horses
Yesterday the first qualification of the five-year-old horses took place. The best 12 combinations placed themselves directly for the final on Saturday, the remaining pairs competed for the last three starting places in the small final today. Jeanine Nieuwenhuis and Great Lady TC (s.Bretton Woods) put the best score on the scoreboard: 83.80%. The trot was rewarded with an 8.9 and the canter and perspective received an 8.7. Following close in second place was Carina Cassoe Krüth and her DWB-bred Heiline’s Danciera (83.60%). This Fürstenball-mare stood out in her trot and this gait was deservedly marked with a 9.3. Claudia Rüscher and Baccardi (s.Belissimo M) were the third pair to earn a ticket for the prestigious final on Saturday. This German combination also followed number 1 and 2 closely with a score of 83.00%. Chairman of the judges Francis Verbeek: “We were able to add three incredible horses to the final tomorrow. It’s a pity we cannot invite today’s number 4, Rockson with Severo Jurado Lopez, as well. This is also a lovely horse. Still, the top three was clearly ahead of the rest today. The winner Great Lady TC set a much better performance than yesterday. Her rider Jeanine Nieuwenhuis was crowned European Champion of the Young Riders last week and that may have caused a lighter training for this horse in the past week. Today they were on top of their game again. Also the number 2 is an amazing horse with an incredible trot. We are excited and have a very good feeling about these three horses going to the final. Together with the 12 horses that have placed themselves yesterday, it promises to be a wonderful competition. I am looking forward to it!”
Tomorrow the final of the five-year-olds starts at 13.00 hrs in the main arena. The best 15 dressage talents will start with a clean slate in their battle for the world championship.
Vitalis wins Stallions of the Year
This afternoon Vitalis convincingly won the Stallions of the Year Prix St. George class with his Norwegian rider Isabel Freese (74.298%). The chestnut stallion, sire of Victoria’s Secret, the talented winner of the qualifications for the five-year-olds yesterday, showed where the mare got her incredible qualities from. The Vivaldi-son made a few mistakes, but left no doubt about his talent for the future.
Vitalis was the vice champion of the NRW-Hauptkörung in Westphalia Germany 2009 and also participated in the World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses in Verden. Chairman of the judges Jacques van Daele: “This class entailed a lot of quality, but Vitalis was head and shoulders above the rest. He scored good marks for his basis gaits. Today he was a bit short in the neck, but if that improves in the Freestyle tomorrow he will easily score 80%. He performs the test with so much quality and little effort: a horse that makes you sit on the edge of your seat.”
Ann-Christin Wienkamp placed second with Royal Classic, a son of Royal Highness. The pair scored 70.526% and thereby stayed ahead of Stefanie Wolf and Rocky Lee (s.Rock Forever) (69.912%). Van Daele: “A few stallions were distracted today, but the quality was good. I love the fact that at this event we both see the youngest horses in action and how their predecessors have developed. For six years I have judged young horses in Verden and people always wonder what will be the next step for this horses. Well, they can see them back here now. And those horses prove to be able to live up to the expectations back then. A succession from the very young horses to the future.”
Tomorrow the eight years and older stallions can be admired in the Freestyle to Music.
Former champion Fiontini in the lead at 6-year-olds
Last year the national anthem was played for Fiontini, the daughter of Fassbinder that was followed in the rankings by her full sister Fiontina. Once again, Severo Jurado Lopez steered the quick mare to the highest score in the qualification round for the six-year-olds. With a 9.5 for the canter, a 9.2 for the trot and an 8.9 for the walk she once more showed her qualities in the basis gaits. She danced through the main arena at the National Equestrian Centre in Ermelo, where the judges rewarded her with an 8.5 for submission and a 9 for perspective. No one was within reach of the 90.20%. A very happy Severo commented: “I think we have a good chance of winning on Sunday!”.
Kirsten Brouwer presented the chestnut stallion Five Star, a son of Amazing Star, and the pair received lovely score as well: 87% was the average of last year’s number 6. The top three was completed by Sir Olli (s.Sir Donnerhall) and Ann-Christin Wienkamp, that followed Five Star closely with a score of 86.80%. The stallion received a 9 for his canter.
Chairman of the judges Maria Colliander said to be happy with the collection of 6-year-olds that placed themselves directly for the final. “The quality was good overall. The 12 best horses have all scored over 80% and I think that is a good standard. Some interesting horses were quite tense and this lowered their scores a bit, so I hope they can improve this in the final.”
“Five Star we liked especially for his consistent quality and performance, he received good remarks for every aspect. Besides, Kirsten Brouwer presented him in a good frame. In our eyes, the winner Fiontini is a real athlete. Perhaps she was slightly reacting to the surroundings and we thought to see that particularly in her trot. The mare was much more relaxed in her canter and of course her trot was good, but we think she could do better in her trot and hopefully she will show that on Sunday.”
Saturday the 30th of July the final of the five-year-olds and the small finales of the six- and seven-year-olds will be ridden. The eight-year-and-older dressage stallions can also be watched in action in the “Dressage Stallions of the Year’ Freestyle to Music.
FULL RESULTS HERE