Russia’s Olympic Qualifier Marina Aframeeva & Vosk Win Ratomka, Belarus World Cup Grand Prix
9 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Russia’s Olympic Qualifier Marina Aframeeva & Vosk Win Ratomka, Belarus World Cup Grand Prix
RATOMKA, Belarus, April 16, 2016–Russia’s Olympic qualifier Marina Aframeeva on Vosk won the Grand Prix Saturday in the inaugural 2016/17 World Cup event for the Central European League with a record number of qualifying competitions.
Marina and the 11-year-old Russian-bred Hanoverian mare scored 72.000 per cent in their first competition since the controversial Moscow CDI3* Olympic qualifier in February that, along with Inesssa Merkulova on Mister X, earned Russia two individual starting places at the Rio de Janeiro summer Games. Inessa Merkulova owns both Vosk and Mister X.
in Saturday’s Grand Prix Inessa rode her Avans to second place on 70.320 per cent with Hanna Karasiova of Belarus on Arlekino in third on 68.840 per cent.
The Grand Prix Freestyle is scheduled for Sunday for riders to earn their first points this year as they seek to fill one of the two places available to Central Europe in the World Cup Final scheduled for Omaha, Nebraska in America’s Midwest a year from now.
This World Cup event is the first of 14 tentatively scheduled in nine nations–Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovenia and Ukraine– in the CEL through December. If all are held, the total will be four more than in 2015/16 for the series that is the annual dressage world championship centered on the musical performance.
The CEL, one of four around the globe with Western Europe, North America and the Pacific being the others, has grown from just six events in 2004 to 14 on the calendar for 2016/17 that is yet to be confirmed. If all are held, the CEL would have more qualifiers than any other league.
Both CEL and North America are each allocated two World Cup places, Western Europe nine and the Pacific one with four other spots going to the defending champion and for wild cards.
The CDI3* Grand Prix for the Special was won by Hanna Karasiova on Zodiak with a score of 67.520 per cent. Fellow Belarus rider Katsiaryna Yafremava on Latino was second on 64.300 per cent and Russia’s Vera Khalikova on Alga in third on 63.620 per cent.
Results:
