Dressage-News

RANDBØL, Denmark, Nov. 8, 2019–Kazuki Sado and Barolo posted a personal best score at the Blue Hors CDI3* Friday to earn their required second qualifying score and assure Japan of a team start at the home Olympics in Tokyo next July.

Kazuki and the 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding scored 68.435% that along with a result of 68.196% at Saumur, France six months ago exceeded the minimum elibility result of two awards of 66%.

Kazuki and Ludwig Der Sonnenkoenig, a 13-year-old Oldenburg stallion, scored 66.957% for their first Olympic qualifying result. The duo met the requirement at the special Olympic qualifier in Exloo, Netherlands two weeks ago, but the FEI ruled the event had not been placed on the official calendar early enough to earn Olympic qualifying results.

The combination of Kazuki and Barolo join Hiroyuki Kitahara on Huracan and Ryunosuke Kuroda on Bellatre D.E.S. who each already posted at least two minimum required scores so Japan has enough qualified pairs for a team of three riders and horses.

The three qualified combinations as well as another three or four Japanese riders plan to compete at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival of seven CDIs beginning in Wellington, Florida in January.

Christoph Koschel, the Japan team coach who rode for Germany at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and has spent the the winter at Global since 2015, texted dressage-news.com after the Friday result:

“Super excited and happy. Now we have the time to get together and grow as a team and Wellington will be a big step forward to it!”

In addition to Japan as the host, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and USA have earned team starts.

South Africa did, too, at a special qualifying event but does not yet have three combinations with the qualifying scores.