Tuesday, August 20, 2002

U.S. Dressage Riders Display Preparedness For World Equestrian Games

The U.S. showed its increasing depth in the dressage discipline by topping the leader board in various tests at CDI*** Lingen (GER) held August 16-18, 2002.

Guenter Seidel finished 2nd in the Grand Prix held on Friday, a qualifier for the Grand Prix Special, with a 71.36% on Nikolaus 7 (Weinberg x Elise), a 13-year-old Westphalian gelding owned by Richard and Jane Brown.

Sue Blinks following in 4th place with a 70.36% on the 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding Flim Flam (Wilhelm Tell x Cilia) owned by Fritz Kundrun. Three of the top 4 places in Saturday's Grand Prix, the qualifier for the Grand Prix Kür, went to U.S. riders.

German based Lisa Wilcox and the 10-year-old Oldenburg stallion, Relevant 6 (Rubinstein I x Havanna), won the class with a score of 74.95% while Debbie McDonald on the 11-year-old Hanoverian mare, Brentina (Brentano II x Lieselotte), owned by Peggy Thomas, finished 2nd with a 72.08%. George Williams, who is not a World Equestrian Games contender, came in 4th with a 70.24% on the 11-year-old black mare, Rocher (Rolls Royce x Fraenzi), owned by Chuck and JoAnn Smith.

The combination of Lisa Wilcox and Relevant 6 scored an 80.32% winning the Grand Prix Kür while Debbie McDonald and Brentina tied for second place with former Olympic Gold Medallist, Isabell Werth (GER) and her mount Anthony FRH with a 77.47%. George Williams and Rocher finished in 5th place, behind Anky van Grunsven (NED), the reigning Olympic Gold Medallist with a 74.16%.

Second place in the Grand Prix Special went to Sue Blinks on Flim Flam with a 74.44%, less than 1 percentage below the victor Lars Pedersen's (DEN) score of 75% on his mount Blue Horse Cavan (Cavalier x Danena). Guenter Seidel and Nicklaus 7 finished in third position with a 72.40%.

The naming of the team for the World Equestrian Games to be held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, September 10 - 22, 2002 will be finalized in the near future.

Related Links
HorsesDaily "On the Scene" at The World Equestrian Games
Scores at Eurodressage.com