Canadian Olympian David Marcus of Campbellville, ON, has been invited to the prestigious CDIO5* Aachen, Germany, from July 11 to 20.
The Canadian dressage athlete will ride his 2012 London Olympic partner, Chrevi’s Capital, a 14-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding (Chrevi’s Cavallo x Weinberg) owned by Deborah Miculinic Kinzinger. The opening Grand Prix test will be held on Thursday, July 17, followed by the Grand Prix Special on Saturday, July 19, and the Grand Prix Freestyle to Music on Sunday, July 20.
Marcus will be the sole Canadian representative contesting dressage events at CDIO5* Aachen, Germany.
“I am so very excited to have been invited to compete at Aachen in the CDIO5* division as the sole representative for Canada,” said Marcus, 33. “Aachen is the biggest annual horse show in the world and a show that I have always wanted to compete at. This will be a great chance for me and Capital to build our relationship and confidence in a stadium similar to what we would experience at a major games, making this an important stop for us in our build-up to the World Equestrian Games.”
Following CDIO5* Aachen, Marcus and Chrevi’s Capital will compete at CDI3* Verden, also in Germany, from August 6 to 10.
“This show will be held in conjunction with the World Young Horse Championships, and competing in the Grand Prix division will be a great opportunity for us to finalize our preparation in the competition ring prior to going into training camp for WEG,” said Marcus. “All in all, it’s going to be a very exciting summer, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Marcus will depart for Germany at the beginning of July, where he will be based with renowned German dressage trainer, Jan Bemelmans. His own personal trainer, Oded Shimoni, will also fly back and forth from his base in Wellington, FL, to provide his expertise.
At his last competition on Canadian soil, Marcus rode Chrevi’s Capital to victory in the Grand Prix at CDI-W CornerStone Spring Into Dressage. The official test event for the 2015 Pan American Games, CDI-W CornerStone Spring Into Dressage was held June 5 to 8 at the Caledon Pan Am Equestrian Park in Palgrave, ON.
In addition to winning, Marcus also fulfilled the Canadian selection criteria for the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) to be held in Normandy, France, at the end of August. Riders needed to achieve four scores over 68% in the Grand Prix in CDI competition, one of which must have been in May or June of 2014.
Marcus made his grand prix debut at the beginning of 2012 and, six short months later, was competing at the 2012 London Olympic Games. In 2013, he topped the North American World Cup League, and is now on track to represent Canada at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
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