Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 9, 2023 – To begin Week 5 at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, 13 horse-and-rider combinations completed the FEI World Cup Qualifying Grand Prix on Thursday afternoon. With this being the second to last World Cup Qualifier in Wellington, many recognizable names are going head to head in hopes to get one step closer to an invitation to Omaha. After some small health concerns, USA’s highest ranked pair, Adrienne Lyle and Salvino, made the decision to withdraw from this week’s competition. This leaves four USA riders amongst the 13 entered pairs. Eight different flags are being represented in the CDI-W Grand Prix and CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle, bringing true meaning to a title like Global Dressage Festival.
Once again with a blue ribbon around his neck was Hof Kasselmann’s 13-year-old gelding Bluetooth OLD with Frederic Wandres in the irons. Wandres took a clean sweep of the CDI4* two weeks ago during AGDF Week 3, scoring a 74.326% in the Grand Prix and an impressive 81.805% in the Freestyle. A mistake-free Grand Prix this afternoon was awarded with a 74.913%.
Morgan Barbancon and her own Bolero laid down a solid test, landing in second place scoring 71.782%. The pair is also no stranger to the top CDI rankings, placing top 5 in every Grand Prix start they have made this season. Bolero, the 17-year-old gelding by Glock’s Johnson TN, is one of three Grand Prix horses Barbancon brought to Wellington for her inaugural season
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To bring Stars and Stripes to the top 3, Ashley Holzer and her own 13-year-old mare Valentine were just out of second place with a score of 71.174%. Holzer began her partnership with Valentine in 2017 during the mare’s 7-year-old year. 2020 was their CDI Grand Prix debut and they have since had great success, including representing Team USA at the 2022 FEI Nations Cup in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The pair finished third in the Grand Prix and fifth in the Freestyle, helping her team to a second place finish.
Starting at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow, February 10, 11 combinations will ride their Grand Prix Freestyles under the stadium lights at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival.
Results: CDI-W Grand Prix
Place / Rider / Country / Horse / Score
1. Frederic Wandres / GER / Bluetooth OLD / 74.913%
2. Morgan Barbancon / FRA / Bolero / 71.782%
3. Ashley Holtzer / USA / Valentine / 71.174%
4. Susan Pape / GBR / Harmony’s Eclectisch / 70.522%
5. Alice Tarjan / USA / Serenade MF / 69.935%
6. Micheal Klimke / GER / Domino 957 / 69.522%
7. Sarah Tubman / USA / First Apple / 69.370%
8. Caroline Chew / SGP / Tribiani / 69.348%
9. Morgan Barbancon / FRA / Deorodo / 67.152%
10. Paula Matute Guimon / ESP / Delagronge / 66.957%
11. Mikala Munter / USA / Salsa Hit / 65.457%
12. Evi Strasser / CAN / Disney Tyme / 63.261%
13. Barbara Bertschinger / SUI / Sonnenberg’s Solisco CH / 58.065%
