Ottawa, Ontario—Toronto native and three-time Canadian Olympian Ashley Holzer, who currently resides in New York, NY, won both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle at the CDI-W Gold Coast Opener, held January 23–25, in Loxahatchee, FL, USA.
Riding Pop Art (Amsterdam x Cabochon), a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Rusty Holzer and Ian and Moreen Nicoll, Holzer scored 70.298% in the Grand Prix test. The duo then performed a spectacular Grand Prix Freestyle test to earn 76.250% for the double victory.
“I wasn’t feeling very well but nonetheless Poppy really helped me out and did one of the best freestyles he has ever done,” remarked Holzer, who is currently the highest ranked Canadian rider in the FEI Dressage Riders’ World Ranking List in ninth position. “It was clean and expressive. His piaffe and passage were fabulous and without tension. His lack of tension enabled me to have a much better walk tour as well.”
The Grand Prix Freestyle test also saw Tina Irwin of Lakefield, ON, and her long-time partner Amicelli (Amigo x Calypso III), a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Ute Busse, finish with a score of 65.400%.
The international judging panel including Canada’s Cara Whitham (FEI O) was also comprised of Stephen Clarke (FEI O—GBR), Linda Zang (FEI O—USA), Angelika Froemming (FEI I—GER), Bo Jena (FEI I—SWE) and Anne Gribbons (FEI O—USA).
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