Adrienne Lyle & Salvino Win Wellington CDI4* Grand Prix for Highest Score This Year by USA Combination Seeking Olympic Team Spot

4 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Adrienne Lyle & Salvino Win Wellington CDI4* Grand Prix for Highest Score This Year by USA Combination Seeking Olympic Team Spot
Adrienne Lyle and Salvino in the Adequan Global Dressage Festival CDI4* Grand Prix. © 2020 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Feb. 27, 2020–USA team partnership of Adrienne Lyle and Salvino won the CDI4* Grand Prix Thursday with a score identical to the last competition seven months ago and the highest for an American this year. 

Adrienne and the 13-year-old Hanoverian stallion were awarded 76.870% to launch their campaign for a spot on the American team at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

The result, the same as at the CDIO5* Nations Cup Grand Prix in Aachen, Germany last July, edged out world championship team mate Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper who posted 76.869% in the Grand Prix earlier this month.

Adrienne and Salvino, the top ranked American combination on the world standings at No. 20, began Big Tour competitions three years ago next month and is owned by Betsy Juliano.

Fellow American Olivia LaGoy-Weltz on Lonoir was second on 72.935% with Canada’s Lindsay Kellock on Sebastien, a prospect for that nation’s Tokyo Games team, were third on 69.826% in the Grand Prix qualifying for the Special.

Kiichi Harada of Japan on Egistar won the Grand Prix for the Freestyle on a score of 68.065%, the third victory in two weeks for the 2016 Olympic partnership also pursuing a start at Tokyo.

The USA’s Jessica Jo Tate and Faberge placed second on 67.739% with compatriot Jessica Kozel on Denzello third on 67.413%.

Adrienne, 35, who is engaged to Wellington veterinarian David da Silva and plans to marry in September, competed Wizard on the U.S. team at the 2012 London Olympics and Salvino on the 2018 silver medal team at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon.

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Lonoir in the Global Dressage Festival CDI4* Grand Prix. © 2020 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Adrienne described the performance as “one of the best feelings I’ve got in there.

“He feels so happy, he feels super excited to be here. Ever since he came on the grounds he’s been puffed up and ready to go and I was really happy with how focused he was despite all of his energy.”

In this Olympic year, she said, “you have to come out strong, especially when we did have a bit of a break. I really wanted to make sure everyone knows that he’s been fit and great and he really does feel good, we’re just trying to think of the big picture and always make the best decisions for him.”

Adrienne and world championship team mate Kasey Perry-Glass did not compete in the CDI5* a week ago, a competition that the U.S. federation listed as a “mandatory outing” for Olympic prospects.

“For fitness reasons we decided that the best plan for him regardless of anything else would be to give him one more week of building up his fitness that would be great and he’d met the criteria to not have to compete in the five-star last week,” she said.

Results:

CDI4* Grand Prix for Special

            Judges:     Michael Osinski Gabriel Armando Henning Lehrmann Gabriela Valerianova Ulrike Nivelle    
Place   Score %   Nation Athlete Horse     E H C M B    
1.   76.870   USA Adrienne Lyle Salvino     78.370 74.783 79.239 76.630 75.326    
2.   72.935   USA Olivia LaGoy-Weltz Lonoir     72.065 72.174 73.043 74.783 72.609    
3.   69.826   CAN Lindsay Kellock Sebastien     71.848 70.217 68.478 67.717 70.870    
4.   69.718   CAN Naima Moreira Laliberte I Do Kiss     69.457 69.457 69.348 70.870 69.457    
5.   69.478   CAN Jill Irving Degas 12     68.152 69.239 70.217 69.130 70.652    
6.   69.239   USA Jennifer Schrader-Williams Millione     70.000 70.435 68.913 68.587 68.261    
7.   68.696   CAN Jacqueline Brooks Westwood 5     68.152 69.783 68.804 69.891 66.848    
8.   64.544   AUS Nicholas Fyffe Fiero HGF     65.543 64.348 65.109 64.457 63.261    
9.   62.913   GEO Joanne Vaughan Elmegardens Marquis     63.217 62.022 62.891 62.783 63.652    

CDI4* Grand Prix for Freestyle

            Judges:     Gabriel Armando Ulrike Nivelle Stephen Clarke Peter Storr Irina Maknami    
Place   Score %   Nation Athlete Horse     E H C M B    
1.   68.065   JPN Kiichi Harada Egistar     68.696 67.717 67.935 68.478 67.500    
2.   67.739   USA Jessica Jo Tate Faberge     67.935 66.304 69.239 67.065 68.152    
3.   67.413   USA Jessica Kozel Denzello     66.304 66.522 66.522 69.674 68.043    
4.   64.783   KOR Dongseon Kim Belstaff     63.587 64.783 64.565 66.087 64.891    
5.   64.304   USA Karen Lipp Whitney     65.543 63.370 63.804 64.130 64.674