Sunday February 20, 2005

Saturday Was the Day for Repeat Performances at the Florida Dressage Classic

Morse Continues String of Success

Another big repeat winner today was Californian, Leslie Morse who won the $1250 FEI Grand Prix Special, this time riding her Swedish stallion, Tip Top 962 (by Master) to a score of 69.133%. Yesterday, she topped the FEI Grand Prix riding Kingston to a score of 72.014%.

“It is only Tip Tip’s fourth Grand Prix ever and his very first time in the Special, so I was really pleased with his performance,” said Morse. “He’s such a big mover. He needs to learn to take smaller steps for the piaffe and the pirouettes, but he never spooked or got distracted and that was a big plus.”

Second in the Grand Prix Special was Mirja Block riding the bold moving, Asarhaddon (by Akzent II) to a score of 65.133% edging out Tina Konyot and Liberty who scored a 65.000%. Konyot’s big gray Hanoverian stallion (by Lauries Crusador xx) was impressive from the start but a small mistake in the one-tempis cost him in the close competition.

“He’s still young,” explained Konyot, “He’ll turn 10 in June. He looks like a big macho boy, but he was looking at the crowds anxiously when we came. I asked the crowd to talk to him and when they did he settled down and did his job.” added Konyot.