Opening the Grand Prix Special was Australia's Hayley Beresford who, long before she ever arrived in Hong Kong this summer, had already climbed a mountain of Olympic proportions. The 30-year old rider was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago but, with typical toughness and determination, she hardly missed a day in the saddle throughout the intensive treatment that saw her win her battle back to good health. And having qualified in the top-25 through to tonight's competition she set the early standard when registering a score of 66.32 with her 11-year old Lusitano stallion Relampago.
Germany's Isabell Werth took another step closer to claiming the individual Olympic dressage gold medal when winning the Grand Prix Special at the equestrian stadium at Sha Tin in Hong Kong tonight (Saturday). But a moment of sheer drama during her test with Satchmo ensured that she holds only a slender lead over her great rival, The Netherlands' Anky Van Grunsven, going into Tuesday night's medal-decider, the Kur, which now promises to be a thriller.
Van Grunsven has a two-point lead over Germany's Heike Kemmer in third, while America's Steffen Peters lies fourth and tonight saw great performances from Russia's Alexandra Korelova and Mexico's Bernadette Pujals who, lying fifth and sixth respectively, can be guaranteed to please the crowds as the final moments of this Olympic contest are played out.
PANICKED
Werth held the lead going into tonight's top-25 competition but with the Dutch double-gold medallist snapping at her heels, and it all very nearly slipped from the German's grasp when her 14-year old gelding Satchmo, previously accumulating average scores in the 80's, suddenly panicked during piaffe and rushed backwards before his shocked rider managed to restore their equilibrium.
With the early movements executed to sensational effect, Werth looked like establishing a score in the 80's, but in the end she had to settle for 75.200% which still gave her the edge over Van Grunsven on 74.960%. With such a narrow margin between the two super-stars however there is no room for error now, and the Dutch rider knows that she should be right in her own comfort-zone with Salinero on Tuesday. Her test tonight was perhaps a little cautious, and a break into canter while attempting to execute the transition from collected trot to half-pass early in the test cost her valuable marks. “It was a stupid thing and it never happened in training,” Van Grunsven said. “Maybe sometimes you want to go so well and maybe you are a bit on the edge but my horse is very fit and fresh and I was trying to go for the best test and that's a positive,” she pointed out.
INSPIRED
Heike Kemmer, another member of the German gold medal winning team on Thursday night, produced an inspired test from the lovely Bonaparte to register 72.960% on the leaderboard. So soft in his rider's hands, the elegant, light-footed gelding floated through his movements and Kemmer was delighted with the result.
For Imke Schellekens-Bartels, lying fifth individually with Sunrise, there was deep disappointment when the mare had to be withdrawn before tonight's competition.
A espanhola naturalizada mexicana Bernadette Pujals gave it everything she had with her handsome 16-year old stallion Vincent whose passage and piaffe were full of life, and the 40-year old rider asked for a fearless extended canter toward the end of her test. Her brave effort was rewarded with a mark of 71.000%.
Meanwhile Alexandra Korelova and the charming former police-horse Balagur – whose legion of fans will be cheering them on in the closing stages – earned their place amongst the elite with a mark of 71.400% and so lie just behind Steffen Peters and Ravel, who scored 71.800% today.
Those left in the mix will be hoping for not just a good day, but a great day on Tuesday when the 2008 individual Olympic dressage champion will be crowned.