Monday June 21, 2004

Robert Dover and FBW Kennedy Sweep All Four 2004 Olympic Dressage Trials

Dover Takes USEF National Championship Title

Robert Dover did it again today and in some kind of style, Freestyle to be exact, with a score today of 81.70 in the Bayer/USET Foundation Festival of Champions presented by State Line Tack. The competition was the 2004 Olympic Dressage Trials and also determined the USEF Grand Prix National Championship.

Gunter Seidel was second in the Freestyle on Aragon with a 78.425%, and third on Nikolaus 7 with 77.175%. Leslie Morse was fourth on Kingston with 77.025% and Steffen Peters on Floriano was fifth with 75.625%.

For the entire Trials the overall scores were: Dover and Kennedy 78.478%: Seidel and Aragon 73.886%; Seidel and Nikolaus 73.181%; Peters and Floriano 72.386%; and Morse and Kingston 71.899%.

The big story of these Trials wasn't just Dover, it was also the overall quality of the performances during the entire trials, capped off by the excellent Freestyle rides today. Veteran “O” Judge Axel Steiner was commenting via headsets for the spectators and said, “It's the largest and most enthusiastic crowd we've had in this country in my 30 years of judging. This is the best competition we've had in this country.”

Image copyrighted: Terri Miller