By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
WELLINGTON, Florida, Jan. 11, 2024–Felicitas Hendricks rode Drombusch to victory in the Global Dressage Festival World Cup Grand Prix Thursday for the 23-year-old German rider’s first Big Tour win and 10 years since her first international competition as a junior at the same show grounds.
Felicitas and her 13-year-old European Under-25 Championship mount were awarded 70.652% for the win and to qualify for her first Friday Night Stars Freestyle under lights in Global’s centerpiece international arena.
Great Britain’s Susan Pape and Harmony’s Eclectisch, 15-year-old KWPN stallion, were runner-up on 70.587% for the rider’s second placing at second on the opening day of the winter-long Global circuit. She rode Harmony’s V-Plus to runner-up in the CDI3* Grand Prix earlier in the day.
Sweden’s Caroline Darcourt on Lord Django, 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding, was third on 69.478%.
Anna Marek of Dunnellon, Florida on the 14-year-old KWPN gelding Fayvel was the highest placed American with a score of 69.456% for fourth. Earlier in the day Anna won the CDI3* Grand Prix on Fire Fly, her Pan American Games team gold medal mount.
The World Cup victory was described by Felicitas as “amazing,” coming after her debut at Grand Prix in Wellington that included being on Germany’s gold medal Nations Cup team in 2023.
On Drombusch that she calls her “heart” horse, owned by her uncle and coach, Christoph Koschel, the duo’s Under-25 career was capped by leading Germany to team gold, followed by individual gold and silver in the freestyle then capturing the prestigious final of the German Piaff-Förderpreises series.
Wellington has a great competition arena and “great people all around” along with “awesome judges” that makes it a “high class show…just perfect.” The experience of the 2023 Wellington season paid off, she said, with success at the Europeans and national Under-25 champion in Stuttgart.
“Drombush, he got off the trailer yesterday and he knew exactly where he was,” Felicitas said. “He was like, ‘Okay, I don’t need to be there because I know exactly where I am. I’m home.”
The win was “definitely unexpected.”
“I just wanted to show that we’re in very good shape and that he’s very happy and fit and I was just happy that I accomplished that to bring that into the ring. I mean it’s amazing. I started with my junior wins here and now winning at a World Cup class here in Wellington is something I never dreamed of, honestly.”
Results:
| Rank | Competitor | Score | E | H | C | M | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Felicitas Hendricks (GER)
Drombusch OLD
|
70.652% | 70.435 | 70.870 | 70.435 | 70.109 | 71.413 |
| 2. |
Susan Pape (GBR)
Harmony’s Eclectisch
|
70.587% | 69.565 | 68.804 | 72.174 | 70.870 | 71.522 |
| 3. |
Caroline Darcourt (SWE)
Lord Django
|
69.478% | 68.152 | 68.804 | 69.457 | 68.913 | 72.065 |
| 4. |
Anna Marek (USA)
Fayvel
|
69.456% | 67.717 | 71.304 | 70.326 | 68.804 | 69.130 |
| 5. |
Kevin Kohmann (USA)
Dünensee
|
69.304% | 69.130 | 69.348 | 68.261 | 69.022 | 70.761 |
| 6. |
Michael Klimke (GER)
Domino 957
|
68.348% | 68.152 | 68.478 | 70.109 | 66.957 | 68.043 |
| 7. |
Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén (SWE)
Devanto
|
68.000% | 66.630 | 68.261 | 69.565 | 67.391 | 68.152 |
| 8. |
Susan Dutta (USA)
Don Design DC
|
66.413% | 67.826 | 67.826 | 66.957 | 63.913 | 65.543 |
| 9. |
Tanya Strasser-Shostak (CAN)
Fidelis Tyme
|
65.913% | 65.652 | 66.630 | 66.087 | 65.217 | 65.978 |
| 10. |
Patricia Ferrando (VEN)
Honnaisseur SJ
|
63.631% | 61.413 | 63.696 | 66.087 | 61.522 | 65.435 |
| 11. |
Mikala Münter (USA)
Skyfall
|
63.282% | 63.804 | 65.326 | 62.717 | 62.174 | 62.391 |
| RT |
James Koford (USA)
Hatsjie B
|
excused
|
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| RT |
Anna-Christina Abbelen (GER)
Sam Donnerhall
|
excused
|
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 Find details on Equestrian Hub |
