Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

FALSTERBO, Sweden, July 10–Anky van Grunsven gave a display of her trademark Queen of the Freestyle when she rode IPS Painted Black to victory in the Exquis World Dressage Masters Grand Prix Kür presented by Axel Johnson Group for her fifth WDM CDI5* title in two years of the richest lineup of competitions on the globe.

Competing in the inaugural €100,000 (US$126,400) WDM at the Falsterbo Horse Show and her first time at this summer beach resort, Anky and the 13-year-old stallion posted a score of 82.40 per cent. The freestyle that was presented by Axel Johnson Group had total prize money of €60,000 (US$75,800) with first place earning €16,000 (US$20,200).

Germany’s Ulla Salzgeber and the 10-year-old mare Wakana showed none of the spookiness from shows earlier this year and placed second on 75.90 per cent with Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven and Favourit receiving 75.40 per cent. They were the hometown favorites of the enthusiastic Swedish crowd that numbered 3,000 paid spectators and many hundreds more who crowded every available place around the arena in sunny weather with temperatures above 80 degrees (27C).

Painted Black suffered a minor injury earlier this year and Falsterbo was his first competition back, but winning the €10,000 Nürnberger Versicherungsgruppe Grand Prix presented by Agria on Thursday showed the stallion was fully recovered. Germany’s Jonny Hilberath on Amüsant won the €30,000 Moorland Grand Prix Special Dressage Derby presented by Agria.

Although Anky will not compete on the Dutch team at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in September, she was accorded star treatment by the crowds who filled the dressage stadium from the practice day Wednesday, the Grand Prix Thursday, the Special Friday and the Freestyle Saturday. Competition from the CSI5* jumping including the Meydan Nations Cup that was going on in an adjacent arena appeared to have no impact on the crowds.

Anky, who came to Falsterbo as she usually does with her husband, Dutch coach Sjef Janssen, and their two children, was “very happy” with Painted Black despite a small error which she blamed on herself.

She made it clear in a conversation with dressage-news.com that she is enjoying to the maximum every good day, that includes her fifth WDM victory. She won twice at Cannes in France and twice at Palm Beach in the USA, giving her more titles than any other rider at the series that also includes Munich, Germany and Hickstead, England.

Asked whether she planned to compete next week at Aachen, Germany, or at Hickstead, Anky said she is not making long term plans.

“I want to enjoy every day when good things happen,” she said. “If things don’t go well the next day you can still think of the good day you had before.

“I remember when I won the World Cup in Dusseldorf (Germany in 2004) the press asked me what I planned to do after the win,” she recalled. “I returned home and my father died of cancer a week later. You never know what is going to happen from day to day.”

Other riders heaped praise on the WDM Falsterbo competition–Ulla Salzgeber described it as a “little championship with fantastic atmosphere that makes the riders grow and the horses grow when they come into the arena,” while Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven said after her first WDM it was “fantastic” and hoped to participate more in the future.

Antonia Ax:son Johnson, whose family company was instrumental in bringing WDM to Falsterbo, said that this year was a “pilot” program that had worked “really, really well” and would like to help bring the event back to Falsterbo next year.

The final WDM event of 2010 will be at Hickstead July 28-Aug. 1, which will feature the world’s top horse and rider combinations — Moorlands Totilas ridden by Edward Gal and Jerich Parzival ridden by Adelinde Cornelissen.

Complete scores from the Grand Prix Freestyle:

Place			Rider	Horse/Sire/Damsire/Owner	E	H	C	M	B
1			Anky van Grunsven	IPS Painted BlackGribaldi – FerroEquestrian International BV	75.50085.00080.2501	79.00085.00082.0001	75.50087.00081.2501	80.00088.00084.0001	80.00089.00084.5001	78.00086.80082.4001
2			Ulla Salzgeber	WakanaWolkentanz II – Wanderbursch IIAP Niederzimmern GmbH & Co.KG	69.00077.00073.0003	72.50077.00074.7503	73.50080.00076.7502	73.50081.00077.2503	73.50082.00077.7502	72.40079.40075.9002
3			Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven	FavouritFidermark – WorldchampSchulte-Böcker,Eberhard	71.50078.00074.7502	73.50078.00075.7502	69.50077.00073.2504	74.00083.00078.5002	71.50078.00074.7503	72.00078.80075.4003
4			Anja Plönzke	Le Mont d’OrLandjuwel Gold – Wie WeltmeyerBraul, Heinz	70.50075.00072.7504	70.00074.00072.0006	72.50079.00075.7503	74.00080.00077.0004	69.50074.00071.7504	71.30076.40073.8504
5			Aat van Essen	PremierJazz – Ulft	69.50075.00072.2505	68.00074.00071.0007	69.00075.00072.0005	69.50078.00073.7505	66.50070.00068.2506	68.50074.40071.4505
Ej placerade
6			Minna TeldeSvedens PK	Larina HömSolos Landtinus – CaranoTage Jepsen	68.00069.00068.5007	70.50074.00072.2504	69.00075.00072.0005	67.50074.00070.7506	70.50071.00070.7505	69.10072.60070.8506
7			Patrik KittelTranås Ridklubb	Kohlpharmas Florett AsFlorestan I – UrofinoGünter Stegemann	64.00072.00068.0008	68.00076.00072.0005	67.00074.00070.5007	66.50071.00068.7508	65.00070.00067.5007	66.10072.60069.3507
8			Michal Rapcewicz	RandonCzuwaj – Famino	66.50071.00068.7506	65.00070.00067.5008	66.00073.00069.5008	68.50072.00070.2507	64.00068.00066.0008	66.00070.80068.4008