By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
WELLINGTON, Florida, Mar. 26, 2015–Laura Graves on Verdades led the United States 1 all-female team to a dominating performance midway through the Adequan Global Dressage Festival Nations Cup of mixed big and small tour combinations Wednesday which will be the format for the Pan American Games in Toronto in July.
Laura and the 13-year-old KWPN gelding scored 74.420 per cent while team mate Allison Brock on Rosevelt posted a personal best of 72.200 per cent–and a bonus of 1.5 percentage points for Grand Prix extended the lead for the team that included two small tour pairs, Kim Herslow and Rosmarin and Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Rassing’s Lonoir.
For Laura and Verdades, it was only their third show since the World Games last August and after this competition will head to Las Vegas for their first World Cup performance.
Kasey Perry on Goerklintgaards Dublet on United States 2 team was the top scoring small tour combination with 73.816 per cent with Kimberly Herslow on Rosmarin in second place on 73.684 per cent. The winning ride by Kasey can be seen here.
Chris Von Marttels on Zilverstar was in third place individually on 73.316 per cent and the highest ranking Canadian with team mate Diane Creech on Robbie W next on 71.868 per cent.
After the first day of the two-day event–the Intermediate 1 and the Grand Prix Special will be held Thursday, the standings were:
1. United States 1–223.304
2. Canada 1 – 216.664
3. United States 2 – 209.980
4. Canada 2 – 209.264
5. Germany – 208.910
6. Guatemala – 196
7. Colombia – 195.184
8. Australia – 186.921
Venezuela was knocked out of the team competition when two of its horses were eliminated with blood in the mouths, leaving only two combinations.
The Nations Cup is the headline event of the finale 12th week of the $650,000 Global lineup of seven international events that has drawn entries creating a succession of records for dressage in the Western Hemisphere.
The only non-championship dressage Nations Cup outside Europe has evolved over the past four years into the unique mixed team format that has been implemented for the first time at this year’s Pan Ams where only a team with at least one Grand Prix combination can qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The United States teams at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center were missing three California riders–at Grand Prix, the national championship pair of Steffen Peters on Legolas as well as the newly developing Grand Prix mount Rosamunde and Kathleen Raine on Breanna and Sabine Schut-Kery on Sanceo at Prix St. Georges.
However, the top Canadian combinations in both big and small tour are competing in Wellington.
Extremely hot (90F/32C) and humid weather played havoc with warmup plans for many of the riders some of whom said they were ready to go into the competition arena after 15 minutes of preparation although they had allowed 30 minutes and then had to wait their turn.
Robert Dover, the U.S. Chef d’Equipe, said of the first day: “The riders cam into this arerna to do their job and to show America is not only superior to any other country in our hemisphere but ready to be ranked among the best nations in the world.”
Results:
Grand Prix
| E: Torrente – COL | H: Zang – USA | C: Foy – USA | M: McMullen – CAN | B: Armando – ARG |
| Rider | Ctzn | Horse | E | Rk. | H | Rk. | C | Rk. | M | Rk. | B | Rk. | T | Pl. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graves, Laura | USA | Verdades | 73.500 | 1 | 73.600 | 2 | 75.400 | 1 | 76.300 | 1 | 73.300 | 1 | 74.420 | 0 | ||||||
| Brock, Allison | USA | Rosevelt | 72.700 | 2 | 73.800 | 1 | 70.600 | 3 | 71.900 | 3 | 72.000 | 2 | 72.200 | 0 | ||||||
| Trussell, Belinda | CAN | Anton | 69.100 | 3 | 68.800 | 4 | 72.000 | 2 | 71.500 | 4 | 68.500 | 5 | 69.980 | 0 | ||||||
| Lane, Megan | CAN | Caravella | 67.700 | 4 | 71.300 | 3 | 69.500 | 4 | 72.400 | 2 | 68.800 | 4 | 69.940 | 0 | ||||||
| Koschel, Christoph | GER | Tiesto | 67.000 | 5 | 67.900 | 5 | 68.200 | 5 | 70.800 | 5 | 69.200 | 3 | 68.620 | 0 | ||||||
| Irving, Jill | CAN | Degas 12 | 66.400 | 6 | 67.200 | 6 | 64.100 | 7 | 69.500 | 6 | 65.900 | 7 | 66.620 | 0 | ||||||
| Haddad-Staller, Catherine | USA | Mane Stream Hotmail | 63.700 | 7 | 63.600 | 7 | 65.500 | 6 | 68.200 | 7 | 66.400 | 6 | 65.480 | 0 |
