Isabell Werth and Weihegold win Grand Prix CHIO Rotterdam
Reigning European Champion Isabell Werth (GER) and her mare Weihegold have won the international Grand Prix this morning. Werth took the victory with a convincing score of 80,717%. Hans Peter Minderhoud (NL) and GLOCK’s Dreamboy N.O.P. took second place with 77.174% and Edward Gal (NL) finished third with GLOCK’s Total US. The Dutch team – with other riders Dinja van Liere with Hermes and Marlies van Baalen with Go Legend are in the lead following this test in the in the FEI Dressage Nations Cup.
Isabell Werth and her experienced sixteen year old mare rode a solid test. The judges rewarded some of their passage and piaffe reprises with marks of 9. “Because of COVID, we were only able to compete in five contests instead of thirty. It is so nice to able to ride once more.“
Hans Peter Minderhoud also performed very well with only a minor mistake in the two-tempi changes. Their result is GLOCK’s Dreamboy N.O.P. best result thus far. “Dreamboy felt fresh and happy and I had a nice ride”, says Minderhoud. “And of course I am also very happy with the result.“
Dinja van Liere and Hermes rode a personal best in Rotterdam. Marlies van Baalen also performed very well with Go Legend, clearly showing progress since the Dutch Championships some weeks earlier. “Go Legend is still very young and can learn a lot from contests such as these.“
Edward Gal and Total US’s performance featured some very strong elements, but the pair slipped up in the zig zag half pass. This mistake cost them a lot of points.
Dutch team captain Alex van Silfhout has to announce his team for the Tokio Olympics before this Monday July 5th. “This has given me a lot of new information. And that’s necessary. The combinations have competed far less in the previous months than they would usually. On top of this, these horses are very young. The voyage to Tokio will be long and the circumstances there will be different. Important to take into consideration. Competing in a large arena like this has given me additional information. In the upcoming days, I will confer with our national equestrian association about the decision.“
The FEI Nations will continue with the final on Saturday, starting with the Grand Prix Special at 16.00 CEST in which Hans Peter Minderhoud and Dinja van Liere will compete on behalf of the Dutch team. Team captain Alex van Silfhout has appointed Edward Gal and Marlies van Baalen to compete in the Grand Prix Freestyle, starting at 19.00 CEST.
Press Release CHIO ROTTERDAM | Photo credits: Jessica Pijlman
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