Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB threw down the winning Grand Prix score as the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023 Final got underway in Omaha (USA) today. But it was no walk-in-the-park for the pair that claimed the series title 12 months ago while on the crest of a winning wave.
The 16-year-old mare was a little overwhelmed when entering the arena this afternoon, and as the defending champion said “she gave her best but she was too excited today, that’s why the mistakes happened and they cost a lot of points and it’s a shame. I was surprised by how tense she was!”, she added, after putting what would still turn out to be the winning score of 79.922 on the board when ninth to go of the 15 starters.
Runner-up was her compatriot and five-time champion Isabell Werth who was very pleased with DSP Qantaz who earned a mark of 77.485, while Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald ensured the result would not be a German whitewash when steering Blue Hors Zepter into third ahead of Ingrid Klimke and Franziskus who lined up in fourth.
First into the arena this afternoon, The Netherlands’ Thamar Zweistra and Hexagon’s Ich Weiss put 73.261 on the board and that was the leading score until von Bredow-Werndl took her turn. Dalera was clearly on full alert once she saw the crowd inside the stadium however.
“When I came down the centreline I felt very confident and I don’t know why she stepped back. She was just a bit over-excited and then in the walk that was super-expensive, she couldn’t wait and it cost too many points”, she said.
On reflection she wondered if lack of competition exposure might explain the reaction of the horse with which she was like an unstoppable force when sweeping all before her at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the 2021 FEI European Championship before lifting the coveted FEI Dressage World Cup™ title for the first time last April.
“Maybe I should have gone to more competitions in between because usually she’s used to competing, but I didn’t have to because I was already qualified (for the Final) after those two qualifiers”, she pointed out today.
“In the warm-up she felt super like always. But anyway she is amazing, she is extremely fit and that’s what she shows. There were mistakes, but what counts is how her form and performance was in total, and everything was great except the two expensive hiccups!”
Source: FEI
The 16-year-old mare was a little overwhelmed when entering the arena this afternoon, and as the defending champion said “she gave her best but she was too excited today, that’s why the mistakes happened and they cost a lot of points and it’s a shame. I was surprised by how tense she was!”, she added, after putting what would still turn out to be the winning score of 79.922 on the board when ninth to go of the 15 starters.
Runner-up was her compatriot and five-time champion Isabell Werth who was very pleased with DSP Qantaz who earned a mark of 77.485, while Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald ensured the result would not be a German whitewash when steering Blue Hors Zepter into third ahead of Ingrid Klimke and Franziskus who lined up in fourth.
First into the arena this afternoon, The Netherlands’ Thamar Zweistra and Hexagon’s Ich Weiss put 73.261 on the board and that was the leading score until von Bredow-Werndl took her turn. Dalera was clearly on full alert once she saw the crowd inside the stadium however.
“When I came down the centreline I felt very confident and I don’t know why she stepped back. She was just a bit over-excited and then in the walk that was super-expensive, she couldn’t wait and it cost too many points”, she said.
On reflection she wondered if lack of competition exposure might explain the reaction of the horse with which she was like an unstoppable force when sweeping all before her at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the 2021 FEI European Championship before lifting the coveted FEI Dressage World Cup™ title for the first time last April.
“Maybe I should have gone to more competitions in between because usually she’s used to competing, but I didn’t have to because I was already qualified (for the Final) after those two qualifiers”, she pointed out today.
“In the warm-up she felt super like always. But anyway she is amazing, she is extremely fit and that’s what she shows. There were mistakes, but what counts is how her form and performance was in total, and everything was great except the two expensive hiccups!”
Source: FEI