Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

TRYON, North Carolina, April 20, 2019–Jennifer Baumert and Handsome won the CDI3* Intermediate 1 Saturday to jump up the United States Pan American Games team rankings a week before the end of qualifying for the short list of up to eight horse and rider combinations. Ashley Holzer and Havanna won the Grand Prix Freestyle.

Jennifer of Wellington, Florida and the 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding were awarded 74.755% for the win a day after being the top placed American in the Prix St. Georges in the campaign for a place on the team of mixed Big and Small Tour combinations for the Pan Ams in Lima, Peru at the end of July.

Endel Ots also of Wellington on Lucky Strike placed second on 72.451% in the Int. 1 after placing third in the St. Georges behind Pablo Gomez Molina of Spain on Furst Fiorano Ymas and Jennifer at the Tryon International Equestrian Center that where the weather has been rainy and unseasonably frigid on Saturday.

Sarah Lockman of Murrieta, California on First Apple leads the Small Tour standings with an average of 74.956 and is entered in the Del Mar National in California next weekend, the last remaining qualifier in the United States.

Ashley Holzer, also of Wellington, on Valentine ranks second on 73.564.

Jennifer and Handsome had started this event in fourth place behind Endel and Lucky Strike.

However, her success at Tryon moved her and the Betsy Juliano-owned Handsome into third place with, according to calculations by dressage-news.com, an average of both three Prix St. Georges and three Int. 1 scores of 73.434.

Endel and Lucky Strike were at 72.447 after this final East Coast qualifier.

The team–the U.S. has not decided how many Big or Small Tour combinations to include but is expected to have it made up of three Small Tour and one Big Tour horses–will not be selected until much closer to the Pan Ams. The U.S. has already earned a start at the 2020 Olympics so will be in Lima looking to earn the fifth straight continental championship team gold.

Ashley Holzer of Wellington and Havanna won the Grand Prix Freestyle on a score of 77.225% on the second anniversary of the first CDI for the partnership at these same show grounds .

It was also the first international competition for Ashley after she switched to riding for the United States instead of her native Canada for which competed at four Olympics.

Ashley and the 12-year-old Hanoverian mare, owned by Diane Fellows, was previously competed at small tour by Jessica von Bredow-Werndl of Germany.

Jill Irving and Arthur, leading contenders for a Big Tour slot on Canada’s team at the Pan Ams, placed second on 74.075%.

Jill returns to Canada to compete Arthur and her other Grand Prix horse Degas in one of the final Pan Am selection events at home.

The Pan Ams are critical for Canada that needs to take one of the two places available to earn a start at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

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