HAGEN, Germany, April 22, 2023–Sönke Rothenberger and the nine-year-old Fendi won Horses & Dreams CDI4* Grand Prix Special Saturday in the pair’s first Big Tour Special.
Before a packed stadium, Sönke and the Danish Warmblood stallion scored 78.341% for the Special after capturing the Grand Prix earlier in the competition. It was the pair’s fourth competition since staring Big Tour six months ago.
Sönke, 28, best known for riding Cosmo on Germany’s Olympic gold medal team in 2016, team gold and individual bronze at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon and three European Championship team golds, was clearly enthusiastic about the ride pumping his fist in the air after the final centerline.
Sweden’s Patrik Kittel on the 11-year-old Westfalen mare Forever Young HRH, was second on 75.808%.
Fellow Swede Therese Nilshagen on Dante Weltino OLD, the 16-year-old stallion beginning the eighth year at international Grand Prix, was third on 75.277%.
Therese and the highly ranked breeding stallion were on Sweden’s teams at the Tokyo Olympics, the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, the world championships last summer as well as three European Championships.
Results:
CDI4* Grand Prix Special
| Judges: | Mariette Sanders – Van Gansewinkel | Peter Storr | Henning Lehrmann | Evi Eisenhardt | Susanne Baarup | ||||||||
| Place | Score | Nation | Athlete | Horse | E | H | C | M | B | Spectators | |||
| 1. | 78.341 | GER | Sönke Rothenberger | Fendi | 77.553 | 78.830 | 77.660 | 77.766 | 79.894 | 80.021 (1) | |||
| 2. | 75.808 | SWE | Patrik Kittel | Forever Young HRH | 76.915 | 77.021 | 74.255 | 75.745 | 75.106 | 75.363 (3) | |||
| 3. | 75.277 | SWE | Therese Nilshagen | Dante Weltino OLD | 77.553 | 76.064 | 75.106 | 71.596 | 76.064 | 75.362 (4) | |||
| 4. | 75.277 | DEN | Nanna Skodborg Merrald | Blue Hors St. Schufro | 76.064 | 74.468 | 74.681 | 74.787 | 76.383 | 75.396 (2) | |||
| 5. | 74.149 | DEN | Andreas Helgstrand | Queenparks Wendy | 74.468 | 74.787 | 73.298 | 74.043 | 74.149 | 73.991 (5) | |||
| 6. | 72.596 | GER | Sandra Nuxoll | Bonheur de La Vie | 73.830 | 70.426 | 75.000 | 71.809 | 71.915 | 71.726 (8) | |||
| 7. | 72.340 | GER | Fabienne Müller-Lütkemeier | Valesco 50 | 72.553 | 71.170 | 73.191 | 71.170 | 73.617 | 72.158 (7) | |||
| 8. | 71.723 | GER | Katharina Hemmer | Denoix PCH | 70.745 | 71.489 | 74.362 | 70.638 | 71.383 | 72.487 (6) | |||
| 9. | 70.894 | GER | Raphael Netz | Great Escape Camelot | 71.064 | 72.340 | 71.383 | 69.681 | 70.000 | 71.608 (9) | |||
| 10. | 69.659 | NED | Lynne Maas | Electra | 71.064 | 68.936 | 70.319 | 67.872 | 70.106 | 69.432 (11) | |||
| 11. | 69.468 | GER | Felicitas Hendricks | Drombusch 2 | 68.617 | 70.532 | 71.170 | 68.404 | 68.617 | 69.683 (10) | |||
| 12. | 68.936 | GER | Svenja Kämper-Meyer | Amanyara M | 70.851 | 67.340 | 70.426 | 69.043 | 67.021 | 68.045 (14) | |||
| 13. | 68.170 | KOR | Young-Shik Hwang | Delmonte 7 | 67.128 | 68.298 | 68.617 | 68.723 | 68.085 | 68.497 (13) | |||
| 14. | 67.468 | NED | Mirelle Kemenade-Witlox | Siebenstein | 68.213 | 66.191 | 67.681 | 67.468 | 67.787 | 69.190 (12) | |||
| SCR | FIN | Emma Kanerva | Mist of Titanium OLD | ||||||||||
