It was a clean sweep at small tour for the 30-year-old Danish rider Carina Nevermann Torup, who teamed up with the eight-year-old Bordeaux gelding Bordolino 8 just a week before the show. They made it three plus-70% wins from three starts when topping the FEI Intermediate I Freestyle CDI3*, presented by Wellington Regional Medical Center, with 73.76%. Sunday’s action wrapped up competition in week five of the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida.
“I trained the owner, Dongseon Kim, a bit when he came over here, so I know the horse a bit from the ground, but I’d never sat on him before last Tuesday,” said Nevermann Torup, who is based in Denmark and works for Helgstrand Dressage. “It’s quite awesome that he actually won, but when you have a horse that’s well ridden, it’s quite easy to get on them. He’s an awesome horse and he gives such a nice feeling in the ring.”
This was the first time Nevermann Torup had ever ridden through this freestyle as she borrowed it from Kim.
“I just listened to the music yesterday and learned it,” said Nevermann Torup, who usually rides 8-10 horses a day and specializes in bringing advanced horses up to grand prix level. “Bordolino has so much power and I asked him for a little bit more today and he gave it to me which meant I had to make a little circle to get with the music because I ride him a little bit faster. We’re still getting to know each other so maybe in two weeks or a month it will be even better still; we’ll see.
“This show is really well organised and it was so cool to go in the ring here and to get a win on this side of the world,” she added. “Global [AGDF] is made for competition and everything has been thought about. The footing is great and everything just works.”
Bordolino may now be sold through Helgstrand, but Nevermann Torup is keen to keep training him up the levels. She brought her own horse over with her in December which she had planned to compete at AGDF, but he was quickly sold.
The Dominican Republic’s Yvonne Losos De Muñiz rode her own 10-year-old Vivaldi mare Felicia to top honors in the FEI Intermediate II CDI3* with 63.324%. Losos De Muñiz bought the talented and light-footed horse from Helgstrand Dressage in Denmark in 2018 and this was only their second international show together — the first at big tour. Felicia was formerly ridden by Australia’s Simone Pearce.
In the Lövsta Future Challenge Intermediate II, it was Susan Dutta (USA) on her and her husband Tim’s Don Design DC who scooped the qualifying slot for the final in week 12 (March 25-29). The 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding is by the stallion Der Designer (since gelded), who was sold as a five-year-old at the PSI auction in 2011 for €1.1 million. Dutta bought Don Design “within 24 hours of trying him” as a five-year-old.
“I took him to Europe and showed him at a few shows grand prix last summer, but he was too green and it was too soon,” said Dutta, who scored 69.411%. “He lacks mileage, so I took my time this season to get him to relax and listen to me. I’m still not trusting him enough even though he will piaffe on the spot — I just need to trust him to do it. I’m really excited to have qualified for the final.
“This series is so wonderful and such a super idea because I don’t want to get wrapped up in pushing him. It means that these young grand prix horses get to go to big venues and get the mileage, but not at such high intensity. Antonia [Ax:son Johnson of class sponsor Lövsta] is so nice to support it and I’m so appreciative. They’re real horse people — they’ve made so many horses — so they know what we needed here. It’s a super division.”
The Prix St. Georges qualifier, presented by Summit Farm, had two places on offer to the 13 starters for the final in week 12. One ticket was scooped by the winner, Stephanie Collomb (USA), who scored 70% riding Stormy River, by San Amour. The second ticket went to Canada’s Pia Fortmuller, who rode the Fürstenball mare Frieda to 69.633%.
Today’s competition concludes week five of the 12-week AGDF. Action returns to the venue next week with jumping classes from Wednesday to Sunday, and a national dressage show. International dressage makes a comeback in week seven (February 19-23) with a packed schedule of five-star action. AGDF 2020 runs for 12 weeks, through March 29. For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.
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