Two high quality grand prix classes set the tone on the opening day of week five of the 2022 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL. AGDF, which hosts seven weeks of CDI competition, runs through April 3.
Charlotte Jorst (USA) rode her own Kastel’s Nintendo to 72.579% and the top spot in the World Cup™ short Grand Prix, presented by Wellington Equestrian Realty. At 18 years old, the stallion by Negro was the oldest in the field of 11 starters and emerged the unanimous winner across the five judges.
Duos with firm partnerships were the order of the day in this class. Second-placed Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu scored 71.895% on her long-time partner All In for second, while Spain’s Juan Matute Guimón finished third on Quantico with 70.447%.
“Nintendo feels better and better all the time,” enthused the 55-year old Danish-born American rider, whose previous competitive outing with the horse was at Aachen, Germany, in September 2021. “He’s more and more in front of my leg, he’s more and more up, and he loves the job. He’s so excited to be here; he’s happier than a clam.”
Click to watch Charlotte Jorst’s winning ride. ©Richard’s Equine Video
“I think the two pirouettes with the one-times in between [were the highlight of the test], because he’s so straight in those ones and those pirouettes — you can come up that centerline and things just happen right after the other in this test. It was just wonderful,” added Jorst, who was riding the modified short version of the grand prix test in competition for the first time with Nintendo.
“I think it’s fun to do another test,” she said. “It’s fun that you do the canter depart and then up the centerline and you have to do the zigzag. The test is kind of nifty, so I’m good with it.”
Jorst’s secrets to success with Nintendo are trail riding, turnout, and ensuring he’s the first horse she rides each day.
“He loves getting out and trail riding, so every single day he turns out half an hour before I ride, and then I just do 15 or 20 minutes schooling four times a week,” she added. “I always have to ride him first, because otherwise he gets so disappointed. He’s the first thing I do in the morning. We trail ride a lot, and that’s how I’ve always done it with him.”
Jorst is hopeful of a starting place at the FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in Leipzig, Germany, in April, and the chance to compete at the FEI World Championships in Herning, Denmark, in August, but her more immediate plans include the CDI5* at AGDF in week seven and Palm Beach Derby week at AGDF 8.
“I’m hoping for a wild card for the World Cup, and if I could do Herning that would be obviously incredible because I’m from Denmark,” she expressed. “But I’m taking it one day at a time and just enjoying every minute of him and of the partnership that we have because it is so incredibly special, and you never know if you will ever get that again.”
Frederic Wandres (GER) and Bluetooth OLD won the Grand Prix CDI4*, presented by Helgstrand Dressage. They emerged triumphant from the 10 starters to put an unassailable 73.565% on the scoreboard, with a high mark of 75.435%. The pair remains unbeaten in all three of their starts at AGDF 2022 so far.
“In week one he was a little bit tired,” said the 33-year-old, who works for Hof Kasselmann in Germany. “Today it was a little bit the opposite. I felt like he was more fresh, and I really liked that. Last time I competed in the World Cup Grand Prix and that’s a completely different test, completely different lines. I thought maybe I should go back once to the normal grand prix version, because all the last shows I did the short grand prix.
“Bluetooth is still a young grand prix horse, so it’s not always so easy to switch between these tests. And the normal grand prix version, which we rode today, is a very difficult test; we know that all. I think he’s overall a very elegant and shining horse with no real weak points. For sure the extensions and the piaffe/passage are something he developed very well,” added Wandres, who had a mistake in the one-time changes is an otherwise harmonious performance.
Bluetooth is being aimed at five-star week before likely heading back over the Atlantic to compete at Hagen, Germany, for Horses and Dreams in April and beginning the German selection process for the World Championships.
Benjamin Ebeling (USA) finished second on Illuster Van De Kampert by a whisker, scoring 73.13%. Belgian rider Laurence Vanommeslaghe rode Edison to third place and 70.609%.
Wandres added another winner’s sash to his AGDF 5 Thursday haul when he won the Prix St. Georges CDI1* riding Dolciario, Hof Kasselmann’s eight-year-old gelding by Danciano. Fourteen starters contested the class, but Dolciario pulled off a flawless performance for 74.235%. Two American riders with plus-71% scores filled the next two spots, with Christian Simonson on Zeaball Diawind clinching second and Kristina Harrison-Antell with I Felix finishing third.
Susan Pape (GBR) debuted Harmony’s V-Plus in the CDI ring and continued her fabulous winning streak from AGDF 3, topping the Prix St. Georges CDI2*. The eight-year-old — the equal youngest horse in the class — posted 71.912% at his first international appearance since contesting young horse classes. V-Plus, who is co-owned by Pape and Harmony Sporthorses, is a breeding stallion by Vivaldi. All three combinations on the podium logged plus-70% scores, with Bianca Berktold (USA) finishing second on Imperial and Luuk Mourits (NED) filling third on another Harmony horse, Harmony’s Sarotti OLD.
Dressage resumes on Friday and includes two freestyle grand prix classes during “Friday Night Stars” in the evening under the lights as well as the daytime Grand Prix CDI4* (qualifier for the Grand Prix Special), small your, under-25, junior, young rider, and amateur action. For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.
FEI World Cup™ Short Grand Prix CDI-W, presented by Wellington Equestrian Realty
1. Charlotte Jorst (USA) on Kastel’s Nintendo, Kastel Denmark’s 18yo KWPN stallion by Negro: 71.316, 71.711, 72.237, 73.684, 73.947, 72.579
2. Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu (CAN) on All In, her own & Marc-Andre Beaulieu’s 17yo KWPN gelding by Tango: 70.263, 70.132, 72.237, 73.553, 73.289, 71.895
3. Juan Matute Guimón (ESP) on Quantico, Juan Matute Azpitarte’s 16yo Hanoverian gelding by Fighting Fit: 69.737, 71.184, 72.237, 70.132, 68.947, 70.447
4. Anna Buffini (USA) on FRH Davinia La Douce, her own 15yo Hanoverian mare by Don Frederico: 69.737, 68.421, 69.342, 71.184, 72.895, 70.316
5. Yvonne Losos de Muñiz (DOM) on Aquamarijn, her own & Sylvia Ines Muñiz Losos’s 17yo KWPN mare by United: 66.316, 70.658, 69.868, 69.737, 69.737, 69.263
6. Jan Ebeling (USA) on Status Royal OLD, Ann Romney’s 12yo Oldenburg gelding by Statesman OLD: 66.184, 68.684, 69.211, 67.763, 71.053, 68.579
7. Paula Matute Guimón (ESP) on Delagronge, her own & Julie McAllister’s 14yo Oldenburg stallion by De Niro: 66.842, 68.684, 64.211, 69.211, 66.974, 67.184
8. Ashley Holzer (USA) on Havanna 145, Diane Fellows’s 15yo Hanoverian mare by Hochadel: 65, 63.816, 69.342, 65.132, 67.237, 66.105
9. Hope Cooper (USA) on Hot Chocolate W, Mary Mansfield’s 17yo Hanoverian gelding by Hochadel: 66.316, 67.105, 65.658, 63.158, 65.921, 65.632
10. Amina Bursese (USA) on Fiti AL, her own 18yo PRE stallion by Jondo: 64.868, 63.421, 63.947, 64.211, 62.5, 63.789
11. Evi Strasser (CAN) on Disney Tyme, her own 14yo Oldenburg gelding by Diamond Hit: 60.526, 60.395, 60.263, 60.132, 60, 60.263
FEI Grand Prix CDI4*, presented by Helgstrand Dressage
1. Frederic Wandres (GER) on Bluetooth OLD, Elena Knyaginicheva & Sergey Knyaginichev’s 12yo Oldenburg gelding by Bordeaux: 72.283, 73.37, 72.935, 73.804, 75.435, 73.565
2. Benjamin Ebeling (USA) on Illuster Van De Kampert, ACR Enterprises Inc.’s 14yo Belgian Warmblood gelding by Spielberg: 71.63, 75.543, 70.109, 75.217, 73.152, 73.13
3. Laurence Vanommeslaghe (BEL) on Edison, Fiechter Quality Dressage Horse BVBA’s 13yo KWPN gelding by Glock’s Johnson TN: 67.5, 73.043, 69.239, 69.457, 73.804, 70.609
4. Jennifer Williams (USA) on Millione, Millione Partners’s Danish Warmblood gelding by Milan: 70.217, 72.174, 66.196, 71.957, 70.109, 70.131
5. Mikala Münter (USA) on Salsa Hit, her own & Paul Bint’s 13yo Oldenburg gelding by Samba Hit III: 66.739, 69.891, 68.478, 69.783, 70.652, 69.109
6. Ariana Chia (CAN) on Fiderame, her own 12yo Oldenburg gelding by Fidertanz: 69.239, 68.478, 66.522, 68.043, 70.217, 68.5
7. Lisa Marriott (GBR) on Valucio DH Z, her own 13yo Zangersheide gelding by Va-Vite: 65.109, 65.109, 65.87, 68.37, 70, 66.892
8. Jessica Jo Tate (USA) on Derby, Cackie Vroom’s 16yo Oldenburg NA gelding by Donnerwerth: 64.891, 63.587, 58.37, 65, 64.348, 63.239
9. Joanne Vaughan (GEO) on Al Martino 10, her own 18yo Holstein gelding by Almoretto: 63.261, 62.935, 62.065, 61.63, 63.043, 62.587
10. Sahar Daniel Hirosh (ISR) on Whitman, Jane Suwalsky’s 19yo KWPN gelding by Rhodium: 60.217, 60.652, 60, 62.065, 62.935, 61.174
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