Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, June 19–Edward Gal and Glock’s Voice won the CDI3* Grand Prix Wednesday with the scores from two Dutch judges giving the pair an edge over Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Uthopia whose ride was ranked first by the other three members of the ground jury.

The margin between the two top pairs was razor thin–Edward and the 11-year-old KWPN black stallion (De Niro x Rohdiamant) that was added to the Glock stable just two weeks ago scored 75.277 per cent.

Charlotte and the 12-year-old KWPN stallion (Metall x Inspekteur) that her trainer Carl Hester rode on the Olympic gold medal team last summer were scored at 75.064 per cent.

The scores (complete results below) tell the story of the class that preceded the Nations Cup as the headline event of this one of only two CHIOs–international competitions for teams in at least two disciplines at the same show, the other being Aachen, Germany next week–in the world.

Much was made of the two Dutch judges, Francis Verbeek and Mariette Sanders, giving Edward the highest marks and awarding Charlotte the lowest scores but the results were close enough that it was anyone’s Grand Prix to win or not.

Edward and Voice were placed first by the two Dutch judges but second by the other three–Susan Hoevenaars of Australia, Leif Törnblad of Denmark and Andrew Gardner of Great Britain.

However, Charlotte and the horse that Carl rode at London made several mistakes. This was the pair’s third show since taking over the ride, winning in both classes at Saumur in France but withdrawing at Addington near their home base in Gloucestershire, England.

Edward, on the other hand, has shown Voice at only three competitions at international Grand Prix. Now, with Rotterdam all three shows have been in the Netherlands.

Meantime, Carl Hester and Dances With Wolves are in their first year at the top level of the sport and big mistakes in the one-tempi changes relegated the pair to third place.

Results:

CDI3* GRAND PRIX ResultS