STOCKHOLM, Nov. 27–Patrik Kittel rode the Australian-owned Toy Story to their first World Cup victory, claiming the Stockholm International Horse Show Grand Prix Freesyle Sunday with the highest score ever for the 11-year-old Swedish warmblood gelding.
The hometown rider who was this year’s European Championships individual bronze medal winner and Toy Story owned by Carol and Sandy Oatley, the parents of Patrik’s wife, Lyndal, scored 79.475 per cent to squeak out a victory over fellow Swede Tinne Vilhelmsson Silfvén on Don Auriello on 79.375 per cent. German multi Olympic gold medalist Isabell Werth on Warum Nicht FRH on whom she won the World Cup Final in Las Vegas in 2007 was third on 78.475 per cent.
The victory by Patrik and Toy Story moved them into second place in the World Cup Western European League standings with 41 points, behind team mate Tinne.
Toy Story (Come Back II x Cessna x Concorde) was bought from a Dutch rider in 2009 for Lyndal to compete, but the horse grew too big for her.
Patrik took over the ride earlier this year and won a Grand Prix at Falsterbo in summer.
Patrik’s latest Freestyle victory underlines the depth in his lineup–13 Grand Prix-level horses at the base in Muenster, Germany which he has been operating for the last 15 years.
“I’m very lucky to have so many right at the moment,” he said. “Toy Story does not have a great amount of experience but he is very talented and he really took me by surprise today.”
“I must say I’m impressed by Toy Story. He is my wife, Lyndal’s, horse but he is a bit big for her and so he is for sale. In the meantime I’m riding him and happy about that. \
“I came to Stockholm with no great expectations at all–I hoped maybe to get in the top five, but it all went perfectly for us today.”
Kittel says he still needs to build up the strength of this horse which he has had for the last two years, but he believes Toy Story has huge potential and plenty of room for improvement.
Tinne said she was “super-happy” with Don Auriello.
“We had a couple of mistakes but this is the first time he is in an arena like Ericsson Globen and he took it well,” she said.
Although runnerup in the third of nine qualifying competitions leading to the World Cup Final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, next April, Tinne widened her lead in the WEL standings. Stockholm gave her another 17 points for a total of 53 in her quest for a place in the Final. She moves to Florida with a barn full of horses next month. She can compete in the World Cup qualifiers in Palm Beach and transfer some points to her WEL total.
At nine years old, Don Auriello, a Hanoverian gelding (Don Davidoff x Wey o mey x White Star), was one of the two youngest horses in the competition. He began his Grand Prix career last winter in Florida.
Standings in the Western European League after Stockholm:
1. Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén SWE 53
2. Patrik Kittel SWE 41
3. Valentina Truppa ITA 33
4. Isabell Werth GER 32
4. Hans Peter Minderhoud NED 32
6. Helen Langehanenberg GER 30
7. Catherine Haddad USA 26
8. Richard Davison GBR 25
9. Marc Peter Spahn BEL 24
10. Sebastian Duperdu FRA 23
Grand Prix Freestyle results:
| PL | Nat | Rider | Horse | € | Score | ||||||
| 1 |  | Toy StoryCome Back II – ConcordeCarol u. Sandy Oatley | 79.4751 | ||||||||
| 2 | | Don AurielloDon Davidoff – White StarLövsta Stuteri | 4643 | 79.3752 | |||||||
| 3 |  | Warum Nicht FRHWeltmeyer – Wenzel IMadeleine Winter-Schulze, Brigitte Werth | 3714 | 78.4753 | |||||||
| 4 | | Responsible OLDRohdiamant – FreudenprinzGabriele Mertens-Gahlen, Helen Langehane | 2322 | 76.2004 | |||||||
| 5 |  | Divoza Horseworld OvationCabochon – Apollonios XXJ.Laarakkers,G.W.van Norel | 75.9005 | ||||||||
| 6 |  | SchiantoGribaldi – SchwadroneurJorgen Rosbog | 75.5006 | ||||||||
| 7 |  | Skovlunds Más GuapoMaster – Cannon Row xxDressurstald Solyst & Mikaela Lindh, Dre | 75.4757 | ||||||||
| 8 |  | DorinaBlue Hors Don Schufro – RagtimeSiril Helljesen | 75.1758 | ||||||||
| 9 | | DeinhardtDonnerhall – Aarking xxSuzanne Brodin | 73.8009 | ||||||||
| 10 | | LennoxLaurentianer – Florestan ISvedala Ridcenter HB | 71.90010 | ||||||||
| 11 | | Charming Boy 26Casaretto – EhrentuschUlla Håkanson | 71.72511 | ||||||||
| 12 | | Bocelli 1044Don Schufro – BernsteinGränsbo Stuteri | 70.87512 | ||||||||
| 13 |  | DonnerfeeDe Niro – RosenkavalierDirk Hooghe – Verhoeven | 69.17513 | ||||||||
| 14 | | FazzinoFlorestan I – RivellinoDe Deken – De Vos | 67.57514 | ||||||||
| 15 | | Fryso huys casAdel – ReyndersMarc-Peter Spahn, Berend van der Velde | 66.97515 |
