With an outstanding score of 91.140%, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN) and the highly talented Mount St John Freestyle delivered the highest mark of this FEI Dressage World Cup™ season so far. Their brilliant ride secured an overwhelming victory in Gothenburg, in the vast Scandinavium arena. The entire top three achieved personal bests, with Maria von Essen (SWE) claiming second place on home soil with Invoice, and Corentin Pottier (FRA) taking third with Gotilas Du Feuillard.

Laudrup-Dufour left no doubt as to who ruled the weekend, leading by over 10% in the Grand Prix and maintaining an 8% margin in the Freestyle. Her scores with Mount St John Freestyle (owned by Laudrup-Dufour & Zinglersen Aps and Mount St John Equestrian Llp) are unmatched throughout this FEI Dressage World Cup™ season. However, the Danish athlete has no plans to compete in the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final: “This was only our second World Cup competition this season, and the next one in ’s-Hertogenbosch comes too soon. Maybe we could go via a Wild Card, but our focus is on the European Championships this summer,” she explained.

Entering the arena as the final combination and the clear favourite for victory, Laudrup-Dufour showed breathtaking piaffe and passage work, and both power and relaxation to secure a top score. The enthusiastic crowd was already cheering before she even began her Freestyle, which, according to Laudrup-Dufour, caused some extra tension in her mare. “It’s wonderful to have the crowd cheering for us; it brings a lot of positivity. But we do need to go in and deliver a high-focused performance.

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