With consummate ease, and more than a little style, Germany’s Isabell Werth claimed her fourth victory of the FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2016/2017 Western European League at Neumunster (GER) today, scoring 82.455. She already had a hat-trick under her belt following wins at Lyon (FRA), Stuttgart (GER) and Amsterdam (NED) but those were all achieved with her sensational 12-year-old mare Weihegold FRH. Today however it was the 15-year-old Don Johnson who claimed the limelight for the 47-year-old rider whose never-ending list of accolades includes two World Cup titles.
Runner-up was 2013 champion Helen Langehanenberg (34) with the 15-year-old Damsey FRH whose enthusiastic final extended trot almost brought him eye-to-eye with Ground Jury President Dr Hans-Christian Matthiesen. The close encounter didn’t prevent a strong score of 79.150 however, pinning The Netherlands’ Madeleine Witte-Vrees (44) into third on a mark of 77.765 while, last to go of the 15 starters, Switzerland’s Marcela Krinke-Susmelj (51) finished fourth with Smeyers Molberg.
The cosy fit of the Neumunster arena is always a character-test for horses, with the judges and spectators only a whisper away from the action, so Werth was delighted that “Johnny” held it together after tension in yesterday’s Grand Prix which they won by a relatively slender margin ahead of Witte-Vrees. “He was really super today, really happy and focused so I enjoyed it and could take a lot of risk. The atmosphere here is always difficult but I was fairly confident, even though you never know exactly what’s going to happen – especially with Johnny!” she said.
The knowledgeable crowd were so accurate with their scores in the spectator judging that show organiser, Paul Schockemohle, joked “maybe we don’t actually need judges all the time!” Witte-Vrees said the spectators “showed great respect and gave almost a standing ovation for every rider!”, but the intensity of it all saw Judy Reynolds’ 15-year-old Vancouver K bubble over to leave the Irish pair well down the order in tenth place.
It was all good news for Werth however, and she knows she is spoilt for choice as she heads to Gothenburg (SWE) for the penultimate qualifier next week with Emilio and then brings Don Johnson to the last leg in “s-Hertogenbosch (NED) ahead of the series Final in Omaha (USA) next month. “It’s great to have so many horses in good form at the same time and I’m delighted with Johnny today. He’s like a good red wine, he keeps getting better!” she said.
Results
1, Don Johnson FRH (Isabell Werth) GER 82.455; 2, Damsey FRH (Helen Langehanenberg) GER 79.150; 3, Cennin (Madeleine Witte-Vrees) NED 77.765; 4, Smeyers Molberg (Marcela Krinke-Susmelj) SUI 75.620; 5, Zippo (Patrick van der Meer) NED 74.090; 6, Du Soleil (Kristy Oatley) AUS 74.015; 7, Foco Loco W (Borja Carrascosa) ESP 73.765; 8. Deveraux B (Carola Koppelmann) 73.380; 9, Real Dancer FRH (Jan-Dirk Giesselmann) GER 73.380; 10, Vancouver K (Judy Reynolds) IRL 73.275; 11, Furstano (Juliane Brunkhorst) GER 72.045; 12, Spirit of the Age OLD (Bernadette Brune) GER 71.385; 13, Sino Soul (Emma Kanerva) FIN 71.145; 14, Sai Baba Plus (Boaventura Freire) POR 70.935; 15, Xama Dos Pinhais (Joao Victor Marcari Oliva) BRA 67.650.
Detailed result here
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