Katherine Bateson-Chandler & Alcazar Join USA’s Other Top Five Combinations in Elite Program

5 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Katherine Bateson-Chandler & Alcazar Join USA’s Other Top Five Combinations in Elite Program
Katherine Bateson Chandler on Alcazar. File photo. © 2019 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Jan. 17, 2019

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

Katherine Bateson-Chandler and Alcazar have been elevated to the United States Equestrian Federation’s Elite Program, joining five other top ranked American rider and horse combinations.

The latest Elite program members, as announced by the USEF Friday, are:

—Katherine Bateson-Chandler of Wellington, Florida and Alcazar, 15-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Jane Clark

—Olivia LaGoy-Weltz of Haymarket, Virginia and Lonoir, 16-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding owned by Olivia and Mary Anne McPhail

—Adrienne Lyle of Ketchum, Idaho and Harmony’s Duval, 12-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Duval Partner LLC

—Adrienne Lyle and Salvino, 13-year-old Hanoverian stallion owned by Betsy Juliano LLC

—Kasey Perry-Glass of Wellington and Goerklintgaards Dublet, 17-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding owned by Diane Perry

—Steffen Peters of San Diego, California and Suppenkasper, 12-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Four Winds Farm & Akiko Yamazaki

“We have a very exciting year ahead of us and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with each of the Elite and Pre-Elite list combinations to further strengthen the depth of our program,” said U.S. Chef d’Equipe Debbie McDonald.

“It will be a busy few months and I expect we will also see some new combinations make the jump to the Elite and Pre-Elite lists, which is very promising when looking at the future talent we can continue to develop within our program.”

For the first time since the list was created three years ago, Laura Graves of Geneva, Florida, and Verdades owned by Laura and Curt Maes was not on the list as the retirement of the 18-year-old KWPN gelding was announced earlier this month.

Shelly Francis of Loxahatchee, Florida, and Danilo, 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Patricia Stempel, were also dropped from the program.

Olivia Lagoy-Weltz and Lonoir remained on the USA Elite list although the pair has not competed in 18 months, but had indicated they would not show at all in 2019. The duo are shown here in a national Grand Prix in Wellington Friday, with a score of 73.641% from the two-judge panel. © 2020 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

The Elite list was released as selection for the U.S. Olympic team for Tokyo was well underway at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington.

Of the combinations on the American silver medal team at the 2018 World Equestrian Games, Steffen on Suppenkasper competed last week and is entered for next week as is Adrienne on Salvino. Kasey on Dublet, along with most other team prospects, is expected to compete at Global’s the CDI5* in mid-February.

The Pre-Elite List, announced at the same time, comprised:

Charlotte Jorst of Reno, Nevada and Kastel’s Nintendo, 17-year-old KWPN stallion owned by Kastel Denmark

–Nick Wagman of San Diego, California and Don John, 12-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Beverly Gepfer