Anky Van Grunsven, won the opening leg of the FEI World Cup™ Dressage series in Odense, Denmark today with a great Freestyle ride from her Olympic champion Salinero.
So often recently the Dutch star has been frustrated by her gelding's unwillingness to be still in halt, but today the 15 year old horse conquered his anxiety to produce a lovely test that pleased the judging panel of Wim Emes (Ned), Jean-Michel Roudier (Fra), Kurt Christensen (Den), Jacques van Daele (Bel) and Gotthilf Riexinger (Ger) to earn a winning score of 81.450.
TENSE
Early-season uneasiness about returning indoors was clearly in evidence during yesterday's Grand Prix in which many horses were tense and spooky. Two riders retired during this competition, including Sweden's Minna Telde with Don Charly and Denmark's Nathalie Zu Sayn Wittgenstein with Rigoletto. Today however most were much more relaxed and attentive, and Salinero sparkled.
Van Grunsven's Dutch team-mate, Edward Gal, also thrilled spectators when guiding the eye-catching and extravagant mare Sisther de Jeu into second place. The 10 year old by Gribaldi had finished more than two full points behind Salinero yesterday afternoon, but today was very much closer when scoring 80.350. It is almost hard to believe it, but the man who already rides arguably the most exciting dressage horse in the world, Moorlands Totilas, seems to have found a female version of the sensational stallion. There was no doubting Salinero's excellence in execution today, but the power, elegance and obvious potential of Sisther de Jeu is breath-taking. She filled the arena with energy, and her natural rhythm made the difficult exercises look relatively easy.
“I was very happy with the ride” Gal said, knowing that the mare is growing in confidence all the time. “When I tested the music with her one year ago she flipped out, but she didn't today”. And he clearly feels there is a lot more to come from her. “Sisther de Jeu is a very good horse, but she needs time to develop – more time than Totilas did” he pointed out.
DUTCH DOMINANCE
This opening event of the 2009/2010 FEI World Cup™ Dressage season has again highlighted the Dutch dominance of the sport and Ground Jury member, Jean Michel Roudierm commented – “We judge by specific criteria in dressage, and right now the Dutch are just better. The Dutch riders have very artistic performances and their horses, such as Totilas, have brought attention to dressage.”
For many years, Anky Van Grunsven has held centre-stage, and she was pleased to be doing that again today with her great performance from Salinero whose first canter transition was untidy however. She said she was disappointed she hadn't scored higher because “I felt that it went just as well as it did during the European Championships where I received higher scores” but that she knew Salinero “worked with me today”. She is planning to bring out Painted Black later in the season before deciding which horse to take to the final in s'Hertogenbosch (Ned) next March.
There was no doubt in Edward Gal's mind who deserved to be the winner. “Anky was the best today and that's why she won – that's how the sport works, and that's how it should be” he said.
Resultados (18/10/09
FEI World Cup Dressage 2009/2010 in Odense
Freestyle
1º Salinero (Anky Van Grunsven) Ned 81.450
2º Sisther de Jeu (Edward Gal) Ned 80.350
3º Watermill Scandic hBC (Patrik Kittel) Swe 76.250
4º Whisper (Monica Theodorescu) Ger 74.700
5º Exquis Escapado (Hans Peter Minderhoud) Ned 73.950
6º Hinnerk (Hubertus Schmidt) Ger 72.450
7º Triviant (Matthias Alexander Rath) 72.200
8º Nartan (Jeannette Haazen) Ned 72.050
9º Tnnenhof's Carabas (Andreas helgstrand) Den 71.600
10º Solos Care (Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven) Swe 70.800
11º Ovation (Christa Laarakkers) Ned 70.250
12º Gredstedgards Casmir (Sune Hansen) Den 69.150
13º Seduc (Anne Troensegaard) Den 65.700
14º Chatham Park Jac (Juliette Ramel) Swe 64.150
Ranking after the first round
FEI World Cup 2009/2010 – Odense:
1. Anky Van Grunsven – 20 pontos
2. Edward Gal – 17
3. Patrik Kittel – 15
4. Monica Theodorescu – 13
5. Hans Peter Minderhoud – 12
6. Hubertus Schmidt – 11
7. Matthias Alexander Rath – 10
8. Jeanette Haazen – 9
9. Andreas Helgstrand – 8
10. Tinne Vilhelmson – 7
11. Christa Laarakkers – 6
12. Sune Hansen – 5
13. Anne Troensegaard – 4
14. Juliette Ramel – 3