Sunday April 23, 2006

Anky van Grunsven Lands Eight World Cup Title

Leslie Morse and Tip Top Finish Second in B-Finals

The 21-year old Laura Bechtolsheimer from Great Britain won the consolation finals at the 2006 World Cup Finals in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 22, 2006. Aboard her father Wilfried's Hanoverian gelding Douglas Dorsey (by Donnerhall x Salem), Laura scored 73.525% and placed first in a field of six riders who rode the B-Finals Kur to Music in the RAI expo center Saturday morning.

American Leslie Morse placed second aboard her Swedish warmblood stallion Tip Top with 71.450%. Morse rode her Pirates of the Carribean kur which has a high degree of technical difficulty. Half passes in passage, extended canters followed by double pirouettes, tempi's on the circle; the sturdy Tip Top did it all. Although the dark bay did lose some impulsion in the piaffes, overall Morse put down a very decent ride with her 12-year old stallion.

"For him [Tip Top] to come to a venue of this size; he did a great job," said a lively Morse in the press conference. "I changed my warm up and philosophy for the ride today. He's a hot horse and the temperature difference between the warm up and the arena is 12°. I put ice water on points to refresh him. I have to keep trying different things so he can step up. It's all about 6 and a half minutes. The whole master game is where to build highlights in your test and know how to build an audience," she philosophized.

Text and Photos by Astrid Appels

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