Sönke Rothenberger & Cosmo to Move to No. 2 in World As European Championships Scramble Rankings

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Sönke Rothenberger and Cosmo at the end of their European Championship Grand Prix Freestyle that scored more than 90 per cent, only the fifth combination in the world to achieve that mark and help boost the pair to No. 2 in the world. © 2017 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Aug. 27, 2017

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

Sönke Rothenberger and Cosmo will move up to No. 2 in the world behind Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD after the European Championships that ended Sunday shook up the official rankings that will be reported by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) for the end of August.

Laura Graves on Verdades, America’s top combination, will drop only one spot to No. 3 based on top performances at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany a month earlier, according to unofficial calculations by dressage-news.com. Another significant factor in the standings is that results from the 2016 Olympics in August 2016 are dropped as scores from the past 12 months only count.

Sönke on Cosmo and Isabell on Weihegold were gold medal team mates for Germany at the 2016 Olympics. He first competed Cosmo at young riders in 2014 while also jumping. The pair won team gold and individual bronze at the Europeans that year and moved up to Grand Prix in 2015.

The Europeans saw Sönke and the 10-year-old KWPN gelding become only the fifth horse and rider pair to break the 90 per cent level in the Grand Prix Freestyle in the history of the sport. The others are Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro, Edward Gal on Totilas and Germans Helen Langehanenberg on Damon Hill, Isabell on Weihegold and the 22-year-old Sönke on Cosmo.

According to dressage-news.com calculations, Isabell on Emilio remain at No. 4 and on Don Johnson at No. 6 in the world.

Great Britain’s Carl Hester on Nip Tuck will drop a couple of places to No. 5 from third while Cathrine Dufour of Denmark on Cassidy holds on to seventh place.

Sweden’s Therese Nilshagen on Dante Weltino OLD, the top duo for Sweden at the Europeans, will make a big leap to No. 13 from 27th at the end of July.

Dressage-news.com that created the “80% Club” to honor pairs that achieved at least that mark in the Grand Prix announced Sunday it will present an award for the “90% Freestyle Club” as the achievement is so rare and deserves special recognition.

The riders and horses to have achieved at least 90 per cent are Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro, Edward Gal on Totilas and Germans Helen Langehanenberg on Damon Hill, Isabell on Weihegold and the 22-year-old Sönke on Cosmo.