Neumünster, Germany — Feb. 16, 2020 — Competition ramped up yesterday at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2019/2020 Western European League as top dressage athletes competed for a victory in the ninth leg of the season. Germans swept the standings taking the top four on their home turf in Neumünster (GER). It was Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER) and TSF Dalera BB who beat out reigning champion Isabell Werth and Emilio for the second time with a score of 89.64%.
During the Grand Prix Freestyle, it was another one of the powerful German contingent, 26-year-old Sönke Rothenberger, who led the way at the halfway stage putting a score of 79.285% on the board. But series double-champion Cornelissen overtook him with a test that oozed energy and bounce as she racked up some maximum 10s along the way for a mark of 82.15%.
Then 2013 champion Langehanenberg put Germany back in charge, starting out with a 9.5 for walk and collecting consistently high marks as she moved the target-score up to 85.22% with the Hanoverian stallion Damsey FRH who at 18 years of age seems to love his competition outings as much as ever. The pair are targeting the final leg of the WEL series in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED) next month.
Langehanenberg and Damsey, who is owned by Louise Leatherdale, held onto third place ahead of von Bredow-Werndl’s brother, Benjamin Werndl, who finished fourth with the exciting 11-year-old Famoso. However, von Bredow-Werndl’s effortless performance with the 13-year-old Trakehner mare, Dalera, owned by Beatrice A. Bürchler-Keller and Micaela Werndl, would be the winning one of the day. The pair picked up numerous 10s as they demonstrated fluency and a quiet understanding during their performance. They placed just shy of the 90 percent mark on a score of 89.64%. For the second time this season, Isabell Werth settled for second aboard her and Madeleine Winter-Schulze‘s 14-year-old Westphalian gelding.
In Stuttgart, von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB pipped Werth and Weihegold who have won the last three FEI Dressage World Cup™ Finals. And today von Bredow-Werndl did it again, this time with the mare she steered to team gold at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018 in Tryon, USA and to team gold as well as Freestyle bronze at last summer’s FEI European Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Gothenburg, Sweden stages the penultimate leg of the Western European League qualifying series next weekend, with the last leg taking place in ’s-Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands on March 14th.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER) – FEI Dressage World Cup™ Neumünster Winner
On her win:
”This was a Personal Best for Dalera and me! She’s a rockstar, and the cutest horse in the world! She was amazing today – in piaffe and passage she was just breezing along, so I could breathe, relax and enjoy myself. There was such lightness, and it felt so easy and harmonious. I didn’t have to ask her for anything, all I had to do was just lead her through the test.”
On her plans for Dalera:
“I won’t take her to the Final because I have Tokyo in mind, but I’ll bring Zaire to ’s-Hertogenbosch and decide if she will go to Las Vegas”, said the German rider who closely watched her brother, Benjamin Werndl, as he steered his rising star Famoso through a lovely balanced test to slot into fourth place on a mark of 85.165 when last to go.”
RESULTS: FEI Dressage World Cup™ Neumünster
Place / Athlete / Country / Horse / Owner / Total Score
1. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl / GER / TSF Dalera BB / Beatrice A. Bürchler-Keller, Micaela Werndl / 89.640
2. Isabell Werth / GER / Emilio 107 / Madeleine Winter-Schulze, Isabell Werth / 88.450
3. Helen Langehanenberg / GER / Damsey FRH / Louise Leatherdale, Susanne Meyer / 82.620
4. Benjamin Werndl / GER / Famoso OLD / Flora Keller, Klaus Werndl, Benjamin Werndl / 85.165
5. Adelinde Cornelissen / NED / Zephyr / W.P.J. Cornelissen / 82.150
6. Sönke Rothenberger / GER / Santiano R / Rothenberger im Gestüt Erlenhof OHG / 79.285
7. Victoria Max-Theurer / AUT / Benaglio / Victoria Max-Theurer / 77.070
8. Denise Nekeman / NED / Boston STH / B. Nekeman / 77.055