DressageDaily: Evi Strasser Sweeps Grand Prix Freestyle at CDI Toronto Dressage Classic

Monday August 8, 2005

Evi Strasser Sweeps Grand Prix Freestyle at CDI Toronto Dressage Classic

Evi Strasser won the Grand Prix Freestyle on the final day of equestrian competition at the CDI3* Toronto Dressage Classic held August 4-7 at the Royal Canadian Riding Academy in Cedar Valley, ON, just north of Toronto.

Strasser of St-Adele, QC, topped the seven-horse field with an impressive average score of 74.470% from the five-member panel of international judges. In fact, Stephen Clarke of Great Britain who was acting as the President of the Ground Jury rewarded Strasser with an incredibly high score of 80% for her Grand Prix Freestyle performance.

“Quantum Tyme was really ‘on’, and he coped very well with the music and surroundings,” said Strasser, a 1996 Canadian Olympian, of her 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Quattro. “There can be noise and clapping but he is so secure in his work that it does not bother him. And I love riding to my freestyle music, it is exciting every time I perform to it. It is an extraordinary partnership that Quantum Tyme and I have together.”

Strasser choreographed the required Grand Prix movements to epic music with a strong drum rhythm, including pieces from the soundtrack of Disney’s ‘The Lion King’. Strasser first purchased Quantum Tyme as a three-year-old, training him herself to the Olympic-level of Grand Prix.

Her 2003 Pan American Games Silver Medal teammate, Jacqueline Brooks of Mount Albert, ON, finished a close second with a score of 73.220%. Brooks, who was riding Gran Gesto, a 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Anne Welch and Brinc Ltd., performed to contemporary Spanish guitar.

Shannon Dueck, a native of British Columbia who now resides in Wellington, FL, took third place in the Grand Prix Freestyle riding Korona, her 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding. The pair, who earned the Individual Silver Medal at the 1999 Pan American Games and were also Canada’s top finishers at the 2002 World Championships in Spain, earned a score of 70.880% to stay just ahead of Jon Costin who posted 70.670%. Costin, who resides in Puslinch, ON, was riding his nine-year-old Hannoverian gelding, Wholio.

Toronto native Ashley Holzer, who had placed second in Saturday’s Grand Prix test, settled for fifth in the Freestyle when her 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, Gambol, owned by Dr. Diane Fellows, lost his concentration. The 1988 Olympic Team Bronze Medalist earned a score of 65.270% for her performance.

While she may not have won the Grand Prix Freestyle, Holzer scored a triple victory in the Prix St. Georges, Intermediaire I and Intermediaire Freestyle riding Pop Art. In Sunday’s Freestyle competition, Holzer and her eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding earned an impressive score of 74.810%.

Tom Dvorak of Hillsburgh, ON, took second place with a score of 74.080% riding Beaumarchais, a 10-year-old dark bay Hannoverian gelding owned by Susan Holden, while Andrea Bresee of Brockville, ON, placed third after earning a score of 70.840% riding Raffles, an 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare.

All Photos copyrighted: Cealy Tetley