The Mexican Equestrian Federation has announced the dressage team that will take part in the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto. The team members are:
Bernadette Pujals and Heslegaards Rolex (Danish Warmblood by Heslegaards Rubin)
José Luis Padilla and Donnersberg (Rheinlander by Don Primero)
Mariana Quintana and Guapo (Rheinlander by Lanciano)
Enrique Palacios and Wizard Banamex (previously NOH´s Wizard, Danish Warmblood by White Talisman)
Bernadette was excused from the Pan Am trials in Mexico City due to the overall gold medal she obtained last year in the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games with another mount, Aurora El Camino. Rolex competed for Denmark at the 2009 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, finishing ninth. Bernadette and Rolex were part of the Mexican team in the last Pan Am Games in 2011, where they finished 6th place in the final classification. They made the transition to Big Tour and have been competing in Europe the past year; they qualified for the 2014 WEG, but did not attend.
Bernadette’s career includes a 9th place individual classification in the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong with Vincent.
José Luis Padilla is the veteran of the team, participating in his 6th consecutive games (3rd Pan Am), and for the 5th time with the same horse. Padilla and Donnersberg competed in the Big Tour in Wellington, FL, in March of 2014.
Mariana Quintana was part of the gold medal team in the CAC games last year and has consistently improved her scores with Guapo, and in the last test in Inter I obtained a score of 69.539%.
These three riders were part of the gold medal team of the 2014 CAC Games.
Newcomer Enrique Palacios riding Wizard Banamex, an experienced Grand Prix horse, have been the undisputed champions of the selection trials, consistently scoring over 69%. Their last scores in the last two tests were 72.039% in the PSG and 71.711% in the Inter I. Wizard represented Denmark as a five-year-old in 2008 in the World Young Horse Championships in Verden, finishing fourth. Enrique was classified for the CAC Games team last year, but unfortunately his mount, Showtime, suffered an accident and had to be humanely euthanized.
This team is the highest-scoring team historically in Mexico. Never before have consistent scores above 67% been recorded for all the team members, and the leading pair of Enrique and Wizard have been improving and scoring in the 70’s during the selection trials.
The selection trials, one of which was a CDI 3* organized in Mexico City, were judged by top international judges including 5* judges Lilo Fore and Eddy de Wolff.
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