The final three flights of competitors endured another hot evening (World No. 1 Novak Djokovic tennis player described the humidity in Tokyo as “brutal”) to sort out the teams and individuals who would be moving forward. It was not until the final group that an 80-plus score was achieved today, first by Charlotte Dujardin and the incredible young talent Gio (80.963), and later by Isabell Werth and Bella Rose (82.500).
The second member of the Canadian team, Lindsay Kellock, had a test aboard Sebastien that had a few bobbles, scoring 65.404%. “My test wasn’t what I had hoped for,” Kellock commented afterward. “We lost a little bit of the energy today ‒ it’s very hot. My horse has had a long, long trip; he travelled from New York, and then he went to Aachen, Germany, for the PEQ quarantine, and then he came here, and that’s a lot of flying.
“It’s a learning experience for me and my team to really gauge how much to work them or how little to work them. And I think I’ve learned from this and maybe he just peaked a little too early.”
“But I’m thrilled to be here. What an incredible venue. My best friends are here on my team with me; that’s really special. My godmother’s here, my sister’s here, The year that all of us have had, or the last two years, how could I not be grateful to even be here? So I’m really happy.”
Kellock, 31, has faced more challenges than most on the road to the Olympics. “I lost my brother [Jonathan, who died of a glioblastoma] in January. So that’s been difficult. I started qualifying a couple of days after he passed. So that’s been really hard. But I know he wants me to be here, and he wants me to be competing. And I feel he’s with me every day and I’m wearing a necklace that he gave me today. I miss him dearly. I tried to do well for him today,” she said, her voice breaking.
Lindsay Kellock and Sebastien. (MacMillan Photography)
Sebastien (Sandro Hit x Fidermark), a 15-year-old Rheinländer gelding owned by Melissa Schiff of Enterprise Farm Equestrian LLC, has been partnered with Kellock for five years and was a member of the silver medal team at the Wellington 2020 FEI CDIO3* Nations Cup and the bronze medal team in 2021. Kellock, 31, made her first major games appearance at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, coming home with a team gold medal.
“He’s a very special horse. He has so much talent. He’s been the most challenging horse for me to train. He has an opinion and he he makes me work for it. He’s the horse that by far has taught me the most of any other horse. He’s a funny guy; he’s very confident, curious, little bit aloof. But when you get to know him, and he gets to know you, he’s very sweet.” (Read more about Sebastian here.)
Kellock, who moves between bases in Florida and Connecticut depending on the season, is (like the entire Canadian team) trained by Ashley Holzer.
Last up for Canada in the final group was Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu, 32, and her partner All In (Tango x Damiro), a 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding co-owned with her father, Craig Fraser and husband, Marc-Andre Beaulieu. The Saint-Bruno, QC, resident has been the top-ranked Canadian in the World Rankings since 2017, currently sitting 57th.
Riding in Group F meant she was in the elite company of Isabell Werth/Bella Rose and Steffen Peters/Suppenkasper, but despite the added pressure the pair performed a lovely, calm test with plenty of presence and expression, although a bit of energy was lost towards the end. Their score of 71.677% saw the team finish in 11th position and was not quite high enough to make the cut for the Individual Final, so unfortunately, Canada’s Olympic dressage journey ends here.
Fraser-Beaulieu had plenty of praise for her horse. “I thought it was incredible. I think it was the best Grand Prix I’ve had to date. All In was spectacular in there. He went in and did his very best for me. He handled my nerves so well! And I felt like the moment he went down centreline, he settled in and he knows his job so well that it was an incredible experience for both of us.
“It wasn’t my best score, but the feeling I had underneath me was amazing. So that’s all I can ask for.”
Fraser-Beaulieu talked about her strategy going into this test. “He’s a fresh horse and he gets pretty hot, and he’s very big horse, so it’s a lot of energy and nerves to manage. I didn’t want to rev him up too much. Because he is so big, sometimes that energy can boil over and then I make a mistake, so I chose to go more of the steady route.”
She notes that All In is generally pretty noise-sensitive, and while you would think having no cheering crowds would mean calmer horses, it doesn’t necessarily. “It’s not even the spectators, it ‘s more if there’s a little sound in the background that’s consistent (like the flagpole). That would boil him over.”
She describes his personality as, “pretty goofy, actually. He likes his own space for sure but he has a heart of gold. He’s always tried for me; he just goes into the ring and does his job. He loves turnout and he’s probably thinking, ‘I haven’t had turnout since I left my home.’ But I promised him when he gets back home he can go outside for a long time.”
Qualifiers by Group July 25:
D:
Carina Cassoe Kruth, Heiline’s Danciera (DEN) 76.677%
Adrienne Lyle, Salvino (USA) 74.876%
E:
Dorothee Schneider, Showtime FRH (GER) 78.820%
Juliette Ramel, Buriel K.H. (SWE) 73.369%
F:
Isabell Werth, Bella Rose 2 (GER) 82.500%
Charlotte Dujardin, Gio (GBR) 80.963%
The best two combinations from each group, along with the six next-best athletes, qualified for Wednesday’s Freestyle which will decide the Individual Olympic title. Moving through to the Individual Final are:
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, TSF Dalera (GER) 84.379%
Isabell Werth, Bella Rose 2 (GER) 82.500%
Cathrine Dufour, Bohemian (DEN) 81.056%
Charlotte Dujardin, Gio (GBR) 80.963%
Dorothee Schneider, Showtime FRH (GER) 78.820%
Edward Gal, Total US (NED) 78.649%
Sabine Schut-Kery, Sanceo (USA) 78.416%
Charlotte Fry, Everdale (GBR) 77.096%
Hans Peter Minderhoud, Dream Boy (NED) 76.817%
Carina Cassoe Kruth, Heiline’s Danciera (DEN) 76.677%
Steffen Peters, Suppenkasper (USA) 76.196%
Therese Nilshagen, Dante Weltino OLD (SWE) 75.140%
Carl Hester, En Vogue (GBR) 75.124%
Adrienne Lyle, Salvino (USA) 74.876%
Juliette Ramel, Buriel K.H. (SWE) 73.369%
Nanna Skodborg Merrald, Zack (DEN) 73.168%
Rodrigo Torres, Fogoso (POR) 72.624%
Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, Elegance (ESP) 72.096 %
Moving Through to Team Final:
1. Germany – 7911.5
2. Great Britain – 7508.5
3. Denmark – 7435.0
4. United States – 7389.5
5. Netherlands – 7312.0
6. Sweden – 6989.0
7. Portugal – 6862.5
8. Spain – 6749.5
Complete results here.
Notes:
- Singapore was eliminated from the dressage qualifier on Sunday after a judge found Caroline Chew’s horse Tribiani was bleeding from the mouth, bringing an abrupt and unfortunate end to the country’s first foray into the sport at the Olympics.
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