The excitement is back in the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final. American favorite Steffen Peters did the incredible as his 11 year old gelding Ravel (Contango x Hautain pref by Democraat, breeder H. de Man) offered everything almost effortlessly. No weak points and no mistakes could be seen. His score of 77,915% was a personal best and while the audience went completely wild after the test, Ravel seemed to be unaffected by the applause and cheering and simply walked on a long rein.
Beautiful performances had already attracted the eye before Peters and Ravel entered the arena in the Thomas and Mack centre in Las Vegas.
The first to go over the 70% threshold was Jan Brink riding his 18 year old KWPN-recognized stallion Briar for the eighth time in a FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final. After Brink seven more riders crossed this line. Pop Art (Amsterdam x Jodyprinses keur by Cabochon, breeder E. Korenberg) showed by Canadian Ashley Holzer Art impressed by the great picture combined with fluency and impulsion, especially in the collections in the piaffe and pirouettes.
The big Nartan (Jazz x Tanja ster prest by Le Faquin xx, breeder W.J.A. van Loveren) showed by his petite rider Jeannette Haazen did a very even test and showed great extensions. The mare Exquis Nadine (TCN Partout x Charites ster pref prest by Roemer, breeder G.A. Vervoorn) , placed fifth individually with his rider Hans Peter Minderhoud at the Olympic Games, floated uphill and showed very impressive extensions. Monica Theodorescu had a fluent performance aboard Whisper, leaving only her extended walk for the five judges to question, as both the mark 5 as the mark 9 had been given.
Isabell Werth riding her Olympic silver medal horse Satchmo had a wonderful start with highlights in the beginning of her test with the half passes in trot and the extensions. However she had a mistake in counting the one tempi changes and did 17 instead of 15. Overall, it looked as though she was riding a bit with the handbrake on as Satchmo easily is distracted. Immediately after Werth, Anky van Grunsven entered the arena riding the black KWPN-stallion IPS Painted Black (breeders fam. Valk-Van Anhold). For the audience it was quite exciting to compare Anky’s score with the leader board of Isabell’s scores. As IPS Painted Black had a mistake in the two tempi changes, in the very end at the point of the last centerline with passage and piaffe the scores of Werth and Van Grunsven were equal at 73,0%. In the end, Anky took the lead due to the last passage rewarded with an eight by all judges. Nine time winner Anky van Grunsven: “After the Olympic Games I definitely needed time to find a new goal. I found it in competing with IPS Painted Black. This is a new challenge and today this was my best Grand Prix of the season.”
The excitement rose as Steffen Peters from his start took over the lead with the impressive and powerful Ravel combining his incredible lightness and impulsion with relaxation and the perfect focus on his rider. All the excitement concluded with his well deserved clear win. Steffen Peters: “My emotions are hard to describe. I am beside myself. I honestly kept looking up to the scoreboard to see whether this really happened. Ravel was fantastic. I didn’t have to push him. His only focus was me! He offered everything!”
All expectations are open again for the Freestyle which will conclude the 24th Rolex FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final on Saturday.
Results:
1. Ravel KWPN – Steffen Peters (USA) 77,915%
2. IPS Painted Black KWPN – Anky van Grunsven (NED) 74,170%
3. Satchmo – Isabell Werth (GER) 73,745%
4. Exquis Nadine KWPN – Hans Peter Minderhoud (NED) 73,064%
5. Pop Art KWPN – Ashley Holzer (CAN) 72,511%
6. Nartan KWPN – Jeannette Haazen (NED) 70,383%
7. Whisper – Monica Theodorescu (GER) 70,170%
8. Bjorsells Briar – Jan Brink (SWE) 70,043%
9. Don Charly – Minna Telde (SWE) 68,979%
10. Randon – Michal Rapcewicz (POL) 68,128%
11. Regardez Moi – Heath Ryan (AUS) 64,638%
12. Diamore – Marco Bernal (COL) 62,553%
13. Rafalco – Jan Ebeling (USA) 53,830%
14. Kingston KWPN – Leslie Morse (USA) DISQ