Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

AACHEN, Germany, July 20, 2019–With Isabell Werth on Bella Rose and Dorothee Schneider on Showtime FRH both scoring above 83% in the CDIO5* Grand Prix Special Saturday, Germany had a runaway victory in the Nations Cup with Denmark taking silver and the United States bronze. Charlotte Dujardin on what may be the last of the catch rides on Erlentanz also scored above 80% for Great Britain.

Isabell and the 15-year-old Bella Rose, a Westfalen mare, scored 84.447% for first place individually while Dorothee and the 13-year-old Showtime, a Hanoverian gelding, was awarded a personal best 83.617% to place second. Charlotte and Erlentanz that she has been competing as the owner-rider has been injured scored 80.277%.

The final team standings after the Grand Prix and the Special was: 1. Germany 489.477; 2. Denmark 457.515; 3. USA 450.775; 4. Sweden 447.953; 5. Great Britain 447.886; 6. Ireland 428.104; 7. Spain 423.588.

This was the 38th Nations Cup victory for Germany on this home ground, while the only other nation to have won here was the Netherlands on three occasions.

The event was the seventh of eight Nations Cups in the trans-Atlantic series, but the results of one did not count as there were not enough teams entered and the final show for this year will be Hickstead, England next week.

After this competition, Sweden leads the series and could become the series champion for the third straight year, while Germany stands second and the United States third.

Both Bella Rose and Showtime have had serious health issues. Bella Rose was out of competition from late 2014 until mid-2018 while Showtime was absent for several months from late 2016 after their Olympic team gold medal performance through to spring 2019, participating in only two events.

Dorothee was emotional after the ride, having been partnered with Showtime since the horse was 3 1/2 years old.

Both combinations are expected to be selected for the German team for the European Championships next month, along with Sönke Rothenberger and Cosmo who was not chosen for the Nations Cup but dominated the CDI4* Grand Prix and Special here.

Charlotte Dujardin and Erlentanz that she competed in three English CDIs since April this year for Sonnar Murray Brown while he recovers from an injury scored 80.277% in what was their first and likely only ever Grand Prix Special. Charlotte will compete Mount St. John Freestyle at the Europeans.

Cathrine Dufour on Bohemian led Denmark to the silver medal with a personal best score of 78.809%.

Cathrine, a star with Cassidy, said that Bohemian’s first appearance in Aachen and coping with the atmosphere in the 6,500-seat Deutsche Bank Stadium showed her that the nine-year-old Westfalen gelding will be her future top mount.

Adrienne Lyle on Salvino was the top placing American on the Dutta Corp. team, as she was in the Grand Prix.

Adrienne and the 12-year-old Hanoverian stallion, World Equestrian Games team silver medalist, scored 76.745% in the Special for seventh place. The pair return home now along with Harmony’s Duval that Adrienne debuted at Aachen in the CDI4*.

Results:

CDIO5* Nations Cup Grand Prix Special

Judges-E: Irina Maknami H: Evi Eisenhardt C: Susanne Baarup M: Clive Halsall B: Janet Lee Foy