Sensational start to Dressage titles race
TOKYO, July 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- It may have been a
long time coming, but the opening day of Equestrian Dressage at the
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games more than
lived up to expectations. Emotions ran high and so did the scores
as superb individual performances saw The
Netherlands take the early lead in the battle for the Team
title, while Germany's
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl set a
personal-best when posting the biggest mark of the evening with TSF
Dalera.
The Grand Prix continues tomorrow when another 30
horse-and-rider combinations take their turn. And if Dorothee Schneider (Showtime) and Isabell Werth (Bella
Rose) can come anyway close to the score achieved by
compatriot von Bredow-Werndl then Germany looks well on the way to securing the
Olympic Dressage Team title for a fabulous 14th time.
Groups
With the competition divided into six groups in total, and three
of those groups taking their turn today, it was Great Britain's Charlotte Fry and Everdale who set the early
target score when posting 77.096 to top Group A. But only two
athletes earned marks over 80%, and Denmark's Cathrine
Dufour was the first of these when putting 81.056 on the
board with Bohemian to take complete command of Group B.
"It was important for me to give him a really great feeling in
the ring today", Dufour said. I didn't want to push too much
because I wanted him to be comfortable in there. And even though
there's no audience there's a vibe in the arena and they can feel
it!"
Much of her previous success has been achieved with the
diminutive Cassidy who carried her through Junior and Young Rider level to triple-bronze at the Senior
European Championships in Gothenburg (SWE) in 2017 and bronze again in
the Grand Prix Special at the Europeans in Rotterdam (NED) in 2019. Tonight she admitted
she felt a bit guilty about leaving the 18-year-old gelding at home
and bringing the 11-year-old Bohemian to Tokyo instead.
Firm basis
Meanwhile Edward Gal's score of
78.649 left him second in Group B and gave The Netherlands a firm basis on which to build
their team challenge. His black stallion, Total US is only nine
years old, and a son of Totilas who, with Gal onboard, set the
world of Dressage on fire a decade ago.
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