Cathrine Dufour & Bohemian Boosted to Pair’s Highest Ranking in World Standings, Giving Danish Rider Two Horses in Top 10
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Mar. 30, 2020
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Two personal best scores for Cathrine Dufour and Bohemian just days before the coronavirus pandemic shut down horse sports around the world were enough to boost the Danish team partnership into the top 10 in the world along with Cassidy, the rider’s 2018 Olympic mount if the rankings for March follow the standard procedure.
The USA’s Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper capped the pair’s unbeaten record of 11 straight wins in Florida to climb into the top 20 in the world, behind team mate Adrienne Lyle on Salvino.
The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) that calculates the official monthly rankings confirmed Monday standings will be posted for March. However, the impact of the coronavirus that halted horse sports worldwide during March and remain on hold has led the FEI to consider the possibility of prolonging the 12 months for which ranking points remain valid to be fair to riders and maintain a level playing field.
Based on results over the past 12 months as calculated by dressage-news.com, German superstar Isabell Werth on Bella Rose remains No. 1 in the world for the ninth straight month. She was No. 2 on Weihegold OLD that held the top spot for 31 months prior to that, punctuated by America’s Laura Graves on Verdades at the rankings pinnacle for two months in the fall of 2018.
The 2019 European Championship team mates Dorothee Schneider on Showtime and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on TSF Dalera BB rank third and fourth, respectively, as they did the previous month.
Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Mount St. John Freestyle edged up to the fifth spot from No. 6 at the end of February.
Cathrine Dufour and Cassidy, Denmark’s 2016 Olympic combination, star combination of the nation’s 2017 European Championship team and a medalist at the 2019 Europeans, dropped one spot back to sixth.
Cathrine and Bohemian, the 10-year-old Westfalen gelding, jumped to No. 7 from 28th a month ago.
The ranking with Bohemian on which Cathrine began Big Tour two years ago, was the highest ever for the pair. It was also the first time the 28-year-old rider has had two horses in the top 10 in the world.
Adrienne Lyle of Wellington, Florida and Salvino, that competed in only one competition during Florida’s winter circuit but that produced a personal best Grand Prix Special score climbed one place to 16th to remain the top U.S. combination on the world rankings.
Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper climbed to 18th from 22nd, the highest ranking since the partnership began Big Tour two years ago. The move up came after 11 straight wins at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington in Steffen’s campaign for a place on his fifth Olympic team for the United States.
