WELLINGTON, Florida, Mar. 28,2015–Denmark’s Mikala Gundersen rode My Lady to victory in the finale Adequan Global Dressage Festival event Saturday night, winning the CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle in the last chance to prepare for the World Cup Final in Las Vegas.
Mikala, based in Wellington for the past decade, was awarded 76.450 per cent for a ride on the 15-year-od Danish Warmblood mare she admitted was not the best for the pair in the 12 weeks of the $650,000 circuit, the richest and longest running dressage lineup in the world.
But it was enough to beat U.S. Olympian Lisa Wilcox on Denzello on 76.050 per cent and American team rider Susan Dutta on Currency DC on 74.350 per cent that were both personal bests.
Mikala also confessed that the presence of Gary Patterson, the creator of her Freestyle who had flown in from London for the event, helped produce a winning result. Gary produces Freestyles for several Americans, including the popular “Mary Poppins” musical creation for Janne Rumbough, the owner of My Lady but who rides her own horses at Grand Prix.
While the ride may not have been the personal best for the two it capped a Global winter circuit of three victories that was their best ever.
Mikala described her fellow competitors as “Welly girls,” the riders who live in Wellington, a year-round dressage community that grows substantially each year to include more riders from around the world who call the South Florida community home.
She and My Lady next month will compete in their second World Cup Final. Last year, the pair wre in their first World Cup Final then went on to be members of the Danish team at the World Games in Normany.
This year, she hopes to make the Danish team for the European Championships in Aachen, Germany in August.
Results:
