Sunday April 23, 2006

Anky van Grunsven Lands Eight World Cup Title

Jan Brink and Bjorsells Briar Place Third

Swedish Jan Brink finished third in the kur with 79.325%. The winner of the 2005 CDIO Aachen and the bronze medal at the 2006 European Dressage Championships presented his Swedish Warmblood Briar as nicely as expected. The regular piaffe and passage are Briar's strong points. A kick to the spur in the piaffe at X and a missed flying change in the canter zig zag were the only two small hiccups in the test.

"It's fun to ride the kur, it makes you ride more on feeling," Brink explained. "In the Grand Prix I had Briar more in front of my legs and in the kur I made some small mistakes. Maybe I should have made him go more in the warm up."

Hans Ynge Goransson's Bjorsells Briar (by Magini x Kroket) did not show same brilliance in Amsterdam that made him win CDIO Aachen in 2005, but the horse is so confirmed in his work and looks happy under Jan Brink. "You can't be at the top every time," Brink said, "Hagen and Aachen were my highlights last year and now I'm working toward the World Equestrian Games."

Brink will give Briar a break and aims at keeping his horse happy and motivated in his work and ride three shows before the WEG (Aachen, Lingen, Falsterbo). "Since Aachen, he has been more steady in the Grand Prix. I don't want to push him, but I'll slowly get him ready for that level [of top competition at the World Equestrian Games]."

Edward Gal, who did not reach his normal level of competition in the Grand Prix because of a swelling underneath the Lingh's girth, was able to ride the kur on Saturday afterall. The Dutch team vet iced the spot and on the kur it was completely gone. Riding a kur to trance techno music, Gal scored 79.075% and climbed up from a sixth place in the Grand Prix to a fourth in the Kur.

Gal stated that the swelling, even though gone, had mentally affected his performance.

"I had a bad preparation because of it. I'm glad I rode my kur today, but I felt myself going white when I got in. I was so stressed. When I felt it got better, I started riding more at the end."