There was some great sporting action on show in the arena of the FEI Dressage World CupTM Grand Prix presented by CRE-ARA on Thursday 2 November. After a fabulous competition, the German rider Frederic Wandres took first place with an average score of 77.043, riding his extremely chic Oldenburg Bluetooth OLD.
Frederic Wandres had a distinct advance over the second-placed Nanna Skordborg Merrald from Denmark – currently third in the FEI world rankings – who posted a score of 74.044 with Blue Horse St. Schufro. The Dutch rider Emmelie Scholtens completed the podium with a score of 73.304, riding her bay Indian Rock."This is the second time I've competed in Lyon, but the first time with Bluetooth OLD. "This morning, I felt fantastic in the arena. The feeling I had with my horse was much better than in Riesenbeck (during the European
Championships this summer). He was absolutely amazing", said the delighted winner, who now plans to spend the rest of the winter season
in Florida in order to prepare for the major events on the calendar in 2024.
As regards the French representatives in the class, the best-placed pairing was Pauline Basquin and Sertorius de Rima Z IFCE, who finished
at the foot of the podium. With a score of 73.000, they shared fourth place with Sweden's Patrik Kittel. It must be said that Pauline
Basquin, who rides for the Cadre Noir de Saumur, and her sometimes mischievous horse put in a truly fine performance here, despite a
fault on the tempi changes.
"We made the same mistake on the tempi change once again, but that's undoubtedly my fault and you can
tell we perhaps still lack a bit of competitive action. As regards the rest, I was really pleased; the piaffe is much better, the horse is calmer
and I can ride him more and more in the arena. But, he still retains that little bit of tenseness that makes him so amazing," explained the
rider.
The representative from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Morgan Barbançon, finished sixth in the rankings with Habana Libre A
(72.456 points). The pair were penalised by a fault in the tempi change on the diagonal and a slightly awkward pirouette to the right.
Alexandre Ayache and Jolene finished in 11th place (69.848 pts), just ahead of Anne-Sophie Serre and Jibraltar de Massa, who got the
competition underway this morning (69.783 pts). "I tried to use this class as a training opportunity rather than push for a great
performance. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to give my
horse experience of this type of competition," explained Anne Sophie Serre, whose nine-year-old horse was taking part in his
first indoor competition. Her husband, Arnaud Serre, had to deal
with the volatile temperament of his horse James Bond de
Massa, who gave him a hard time from the start of their routine.
Finally, the pair came fourteenth with a score of 68.956.
Source: Press Release
Photo©: PSV - Jean Morel
