Allison Brock & Rosevelt Earn Personal Best to Win Wellington’s Global CDI3* Grand Prix Special
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By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
WELLINGTON, Florida, April 2, 2016–Allison Brock, one of the group of American woman moving to the top of United States dressage, earned a personal best score to win the Adequan Global Dressage Festival CDI3* Grand Prix Special Saturday for their third straight victory.
On the final day of the 12-week winter circuit, Ali and the 14-year-old KWPN stallion were awarded 74.333 per cent for the victory that cemented their place on the United States squad of about eight combinations to go to Europe to seek to be on the American team at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Lars Petersen riding Mariett in what is likely the last competition in Wellington for the 18-year-old mare was second on 70.529 per cent in the first Grand Prix Special for the duo since the World Games in Normandy almost two years ago.
The Danish team rider who lives in Wellington and became an American citizen this year has said that he plans to take Mariett to Europe for the Danish championships and if selected for Rio then retire the Danish Warmblood mare owned by American Marcia Pepper.
Lisa Wilcox placed third on Galant with 70.451 per cent that puts the Olympic and World Games rider for the United States and the 10-year-old Belgian Warmbood gelding pair on the edge of making the European squad. If not selected, she said she will stay in Wellington and train her string of horses.
Ali and Rosevelt overcame some early season bobbles to improve the results for the pair that if selected for the Rio team would make the second Olympic combination supported by Claudine and Fritz Kundren. The first was Sue Blinks and Flim Flam that went to the Sydney 2000 Games as well as the 1998 and 2002 world championships.
Rosevelt, as a stallion, as well as the mare Rosamunde ridden by Steffen Peters, will go to Europe early next month to settle in before the first selection event at Compiègne in mid-May and remain at least until the U.S. Olympic team is selected on July 1. Both stallions and mares have to undergo 30 days of quarantine on return to the United States after 60 days abroad.
Ali said that she and veteran coach and competitor Michael Barisone agreed on a shortened warm up in heat that was more like Florida in mid-summer “so as not to burn him out.”
“I felt like I took more horse in there today,” said the 36-year-old rider.
“We produced another very consistent, clean test. He’s just solid, That counts for a lot.”
Allison and Rosevelt will be in the European squad along with Laura Graves and Verdades, the 2015 U.S. championship pair at the top of the American Olympic rankings, and Kasey Perry Glass and Dublet, fourth in the rankings after just two months of Big Tour competition for the pair.
Steffen Peters, the top American rider for most of the past decade and ranked highest on the world standings on Legolas at No. 6 and 18th on Rosamunde fills the second and third places on the U.S. rankings with 1998 World Games team rider Shelly Francis ,
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