However the spectators held their breath after a spectacular performance from Patrik Kittel who was last to go in today’s thrilling contest. If there had been extra marks on offer for pure excitement, then the Swedish rider would definitely have had it in the bag because, with the willing assistance of his lovely mare Deja, he threw down a test that was nothing short of funky. The crowd couldn’t resist moving to the sound of his Stevie Wonder-themed musical score, but his final mark of 81.175 left him in second spot ahead of Germany’s Fabienne Lutkemeier and D’Agostino in third. Switzerland’s Marcel Krinke Susmelj lined up fourth with Smeyers Molberg, Ireland’s Judy Reynolds finished fifth with Vancouver K and the sole French representative, Pierre Volla, claimed sixth spot with his young mare Badinda Altena.
Raised the bar
With three left to go, Germany’s Fabienne Lutkemeier and D’Agostino raised the bar even higher, the big chestnut’s powerful and expressive movement complemented by great lightness as they marched out in front for a mark of 79.850. But the team gold medallists from the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy (FRA) and the FEI European Championships 2013 in Herning, Denmark, were immediately relegated by the foot-perfect performance from Ferrer-Salat and Delgado.
This pair are a picture of symmetry, and as they easily worked through their floorplan in complete harmony with their music, it was clear a new lead would be established. Putting 82.875 on the board, it was now up to Kittel to dethrone the Spanish partnership when last to go. And the crowd watched with amazement as he gave it his very best shot, his 11-year-old mare, Deja, seemingly dancing with delight as the excitement built to a crescendo. The arena erupted when they drew to a halt, but the scoreboard showed 81.175 for second place. However Kittel now stands at the top of the Western European League leaderboard at this early stage of the series when adding today’s 17 points to the maximum 20 he picked up when winning the Central European League qualifier at Kaposvar in Hungary two weeks ago.
Kittel meanwhile recognised that this had been an afternoon of great sport, and complimented the Lyon organisers on opening the doors to the public free-of-charge this afternoon. “The more of the general public we have in the audience the better if we want our sport to progress. The crowd were great, they really enjoyed the competition and supported us all, and the horses were fine in the prize-giving even though the spectators were really noisy. It was a lot of fun!” he said.
The third leg will take place at Stuttgart (GER) on Saturday 21 November 2015. For details of the German fixture visit www.stuttgart-german-masters.de or contact Press Officer Jörg Klopfer, joerg.klopfer@in.stuttgart.de, +49 71195543128.
Result: 1, Delgado (Beatriz Ferrer-Salat) ESP 82.875; 2, Deja (Patrik Kittel) SWE 81.175; 3, D’Agostino (Fabienne Lutkemeier) GER 79.850; 4, Smeyers Molberg (Marcela Krinke Susmelj) SUI 78.000; 5, Vancouver K (Judy Reynolds) IRL 77.425; 6, Badinda Altena (Pierre Volla) FRA 74.150; 7, Batuta (Goncalo Carvalho) POR 74.125; 8, Finckenstein TSF (Rikke Svane) DEN 72.125; 9, Spirit of the Age OLD (Bernadette Brune) GER 72.075; 10, Dandy de la Roche CMF (Antonella Joannou) SUI 71.300; 11, Raffaelo v. Bene (Anna-Mengia Aerne) SUI 71.075; 12, Beckham (Marina Mattsson) SWE 69.600; 13, Santurion de Massa (Daniel Pinto) POR 68.625; 14, Sal (Silvia Rizzo) ITA 64.975; 15, Sunny Boy (Juan Antonio Jiminez) ESP 64.775.
Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2015/2016 leaderboard: standings after Round 2 of the Western European League at Lyon (FRA):
1. Patrik Kittel SWE - 37
2. Marcela Krinke Susmelj SUI - 33
3. Inna Logutenkova UKR - 30
4. Judy Reynolds IRL - 24
5. Alexandre Ayache FRA - 20
5. Beatriz Ferrer-Salat ESP - 20
5. Edward Gal NED - 20
5. Ellen Schulten-Baumer GER - 20
9. Charlotte Haid Bondergaard SWE - 19
9. Goncales Carvalho POR - 19
9. Jenny Larsson SWE - 19
12. Anna Kasprzak DEN - 17
12. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl GER- 17
12. Matthias Bouten GER - 17