Dutch Imke Schellekens-Bartels, leads the leader board after winning the 3 consecutive qualifiers of the FEI World Cup™ in Olympia (London), Mechelen and Amsterdam.
She did not disappoint the home crowd. The Dutch national champion showed a brand new Freestyle to music, composed by Dutch virtuoso pianist Wibi Soerjadi. The Freestyle called ‘The spirit of Sunrise’ touched the crowd and the judges from the very start. Imke Schellekens-Bartels was too happy, as her Grand Prix of yesterday did not work out to her advantage. Unexpected mistakes occurred, like canter in the first extended trot, mistakes in the two tempi and one tempi changes and an unwanted change short for a pirouette. After her Grand Prix which was rewarded with the fifth position she had no explanation, after her winning Freestyle she had. “We have been training technically a bit different lately as the lightness and looseness of Sunrise is improving very much. The shape she is in as never been better, but she obviously got confused in the arena by her own lightness and I in my turn got confused too as I did not expect her mistakes and didn’t know how to solve them. Today as I was focused more it all went wonderful. This extraordinary music of Wibi Soerjadi even helps me to control the rhythm of Sunrise and to avoid mistakes.”
Switzerland’s Silvia Iklé already renewed her Freestyle for the World Cup™ Qualifier in Frankfurt, winning on her very first appearance with this brand new Freestyle composed by famous Swiss composer Bauer and a bandoneon piece played by Zisman. Silvia Iklé was the winner of the Grand Prix in Amsterdam. The piaffe and passage is the strongest point of her great mover and she ad a lot of that of course in her Freestyle. It was hard to decide between Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Silvia Iklé. Francis Verbeek commented: “I felt the trotting part and the piaffe and passage were wonderful, but the canter part might have been a bit hectic, in the music too. But for me the first four all were remarkable well performed tests.
It was a Dutch Party in Amsterdam as Edward Gal, Laurens van Lieren and Marlies van Baalen ended at third, fourth and fifth position. Edward Gal showed the black stallion G4S IPS Gribaldi in what might have been his best Freestyle ever accompanied by the former freestyle music of his sold stallion Lingh. “Now Gribaldi has proved he has deserved his own Freestyle”, Edward Gal promised. Joost Peters, who played the bass in the new Freestyle of Imke Schellekens-Bartels and also designed the Queen-based Freestyle for Laurens van Lieren and Hexagon’s Ollright, was a happy man to see Laurens van Lieren reach fourth position. The second Dutch rider to present a brand new Freestyle in Amsterdam was Marlies van Baalen, who asked Anky van Grunsven’s composer Cees Sling of Slings Music Cast, to produce a new Freestyle, called ‘Marlies and the Magnifient riders’. The Western theme including scores from High Chapparall, Rawhide, Riffleman, Bonanza and Once upon a time in the west accompanied a well ridden test, which brought Marlies her highest marks in a World Cup™ qualifier until now. For world champion Isabell Werth her busy schedule travelling between Zürich and Amsterdam didn’t benefit her results in the Amsterdam World Cup™, reaching 13th position.
Results (27.01.079
CDI-W Amesterdão – Holanda
FEI WORLD CUP DRESSAGE QUALIFIER
FEI Grand Prix Freestyle
1º Sunrise – Imke Schellekens-Bartels (Ned) – 80,80%
2º Salieri Ch -Silvia Iklé (Sui) – 79,80%
3º Gribaldi – Edward Gal (Ned) – 77.750 %
4º Hexagon´S Ollright – Laurens Van Lieren (Ned) – 77.30%
5º BMC Relevant 5 – Marlies Van Baalen (Ned) – 74.35%
6º Douglas Dorsey – Laura Bechtolsheimer (Gbr) – 72.65%
7º Solos Carex – Tinne Vilhelmson (Swe) – 72.05%
8º Guinness – Louise Nathhorst (Swe) – 72.05 %
9º Balagur – Alexandra Korelova (Rus) – 71.75 %
10º Paganini – Jeroen Devroe (Bel) – 71.20%
Grand Prix
1º Silvia Ikle (Sui) / Salieri CH: 72.541%
2º Edward Gal (Hol) / Grimaldi: 71.083%
3º Laurens van Lieren (Hol) / Hexagon's Olright: 70.583%
4º Tinne Vilhelmson (Sue) / Solos Carex: 70.5%
5º Imke Schellekens Bartels (Hol) / Sunrise: 70.291%
6º Louise Nathhorst: (Sue): Guinness: 68.708 %
7º Alex van Silfhout (Hol) / Luxform's Olympus: 67.583%
8º Laura Bechtolsheimer (Gbr) / Douglas Dorsey: 67.041%
9º Marlies van Baalen (Hol) / Relevant: 66.375%
10º Marcela Krinke Susmelj (Sui) / Corinth: 66.083%