Adrienne Lyle & Wizard Move Into World Cup Contention with Florida Result
12 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Adrienne Lyle & Wizard Move Into World Cup Contention with Florida Result
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, Jan. 19–Adrienne Lyle and Wizard on Saturday performed their first Freestyle in almost a year and the United States Olympic partnership moved into contention to win a place in the World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden in April.
Adrienne of Ketchum, Idaho and the 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Weltmeyer x Pica x Classiker) recorded a result of 75.675 per cent for runnerup to Sweden’s Patrik Kittel and Watermill Scandic H.B.C. at the Gold Coast Dressage CDI-W, the first of five World Cup qualifiers on the Florida winter circuit.
The result was the highest for any combination declared for the World Cup in the four qualifying events hold so far in the North American League of Canada and the United States whose two places in the Final are determined by the average of the top two scores. And it was the highest for the pair since their last Freestyle, at the Global Dressage Festival CDI5* in Wellington, Florida last March.
She was the only American in the field of eight starters that included two Canadians, two Swedes, an Italian and a Dane.
Adrienne who brought Wizard to Florida to compete in this week’s World Cup event and next week’s World Dressage Masters said that her plans for the year were uncertain but she and her trainer, Debbie McDonald, hoped to compete in Europe this summer.
She rode Wizard conservatively in the Grand Prix on Friday, placing third.
“Today, we turned it up a notch and are ready to go full power next week.”
Wizard, she said, was full of energy and displayed a lot of expression in the Freestyle.
“This was his first competition since the Olympics in London last summer so we didn’t go all out,” she told dressage-news.com, “we didn’t want to wear him out. We have to save something for next weekend.”
The result presents a dilemma inasmuch as they are scheduled to return to their winter base in California at the end of the month and no World Cup events are scheduled there for the 2012/13 season. The handful of other possible contenders had indicated to organizers they were not seeking to qualify for the Final of the only global championship in the sport. Further, for the Americas, there are no regional or continental championships for senior riders.
“My highest priority,” Adrienne said, “Is to get to Europe. The World Cup is a potential, and we want to to some of the big summer shows there. We are keeping our options open.”
