Sunday March 10, 2002

Beatriz Ferrer-Salat's Third Consecutive World Cup Victory

The last World Cup Dressage Qualifier for the Western European League became an emotional victory for Spanish Beatriz Ferrer-Salat. With her steady horse Vital Robert Beauvalais, Ferrer-Salat impressively beat Dutch Arjen Teeuwissen with Goliath and claimed a third, consecutive victory in a World Cup Qualifier after the CDI's in Mechelen, Belgium, and San Patrignono, Italy.

Arjen Teeuwissen's waning stardom is surprising. Since the 2001 European Dressage Championships, where he claimed the individual silver medal, and another period of injury, his KWPN gelding Goliath T (x Zebulon) has not yet reached that top performance level. At the CDI-W Mechelen, Teeuwissen performed remarkably poorly and even in Paris, he had to give in to the Spanish Beatriz Ferrer-Salat. The Dutch combination performed on their usual Spanish based freestyle and received 75.76% from the panel of judges which placed them second.

Beatriz Ferrer-Salat was unbeatable aboard her gorgeous Hanoverian gelding Beauvalais. Under loud applause from the audience, Ferrer-Salat saw a score of 76.06% appear on the scoreboard in the beautiful indoor arena in Paris-Bercy, France.

"I'm staying realistic for the World Cup Finals in 's Hertogenbosch," Ferrer-Salat quoted afterwards. "I believe I can finish among the top three but I will probably end up somewhere in the top six." Teeuwissen was not disappointed with his second place. "I'm very pleased with being second. I'm happy with Goliath's performance and what is happening between us," the Dutch rider concluded. It is more than certain that Teeuwissen is working towards the final and will put up a good fight against title defender Ulla Salzgeber and title hopeful Beatriz Ferrer-Salat in his native country The Netherlands. The World Cup Finals take place March 23-25, 2002.

Text by Astrid Appels
Images Copyrighted: J.P.V. Morel - Reproduction Prohibited

Related Links
Scores of the CDI-W Paris at Eurodressage.com
Ferrer-Salat Continues World Cup Success-Story
Official Website Paris Horse Show