Totilas Returns to Competition–Kapellen CDI3* Grand Prix Thursday
10 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Totilas Returns to Competition–Kapellen CDI3* Grand Prix Thursday
KAPELLEN, Belgium, May 21, 2014–Totilas will be ridden by Matthias Alexander Rath in the Kapellen CDI3* Grand Prix Thursday, more than two years after the stallion was last competed.
The appearance of the black stallion, now 14 years old, was confirmed by the organizers shortly before the horse inspection Wednesday.
Totilas is scheduled to go at 1412 CET (8:12 am US Eastern Time) in the ninth spot in the field of 36 starting combinations. As the horse has not been competed at a CDI in more than two years, the pair have no world ranking points so were drawn in the early section of the Grand Prix.
The organizers said that no streaming video was scheduled.
Totilas’s last appearance with Edward Gal was almost exactly four years ago, at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky where the partnership won three gold medals–team and two individual.
Totilas (Gribaldi x Glendale) was then sold to Paul Schockemöhle and Ann-Katrin Linsenhof to be ridden by Matthias, Ann-Katrin’s stepson, for Germany.
The horse was out with injuries and Matthias struggled to achieve the same level of success enjoyed by Edward Gal of the Netherlands.
The German rode Totilas in 12 starts from June, 2011 to April, 2012, including one championship, the Europeans at Rotterdam in 2011.
Totilas was injured after the German national championships in Balve in 2012 and was unable to compete at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany where the German team for the 2012 Olympics was selected.
Coaching was switched from Matthias’s father to Sjef Janssen, the husband of Anky van Grunsven who was also coach of the Dutch team when Edward and Totilas were partnered.
There was no advance notice of Totilas appearing at Kapellen, but the rules allowed a last-minute substitution.
