Dressage-News

TEMECULA, California, April 13, 2019–Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper won the World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle Saturday night with a personal best score a day after posting a new high in the Grand Prix at the West Coast Dressage Festival.

Steffen a four-time Olympian for America, and the 11-year-old KWPN gelding were awarded 79.750% for the musical performance in the first qualifying competition in North American for theWorld Cup final in Las Vegas a year from now.

Steffen was the World Cup champion on Ravel in 2009, only the second American combination to win the annual championship based on the freestyle. The other was Debbie McDonald on Brentina in 2003.

The previous best freestyle score for Steffen and “Mopsie,” as Suppenkasper is nicknamed, was 77.800% in Southern California a year ago. Steffen and Suppenkasper scored 76.304% in the Grand Prix Friday, that surpassed their previous best of 75.804% three months earlier.

The personal best results come 15 months after Steffen began international competition on Suppenkasper that was bought by Four Winds Farm of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang as a U.S. team prospect for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The horse was previously competed by Germany’s Helen Langehanenberg.

The 54-year-old Steffen based in San Diego competed on American teams at Olympics in 1996, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Paige Ruhl of Redmond, Washington on Yatzee FPF was second on 67.325%. Only two combinations started in the freestyle.

Results:

World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle

Judges-E: Sarah Geikie-USA H: Gary Rockwell-USA C: Cesar Torrente-COL M: Lee Tubman-CAN B: Gabriel Armando-ARG