Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Lonoir Claim Victory in the CDI5* Grand Prix during Adequan Global Dressage Festival Week 5

Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 8, 2017 – Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and her partner Lonoir, may not have been in the CDI ring since the CDIO5* in Aachen last July, but they didn’t let that get in their way as they claimed the blue ribbon in the CDI5* Grand Prix for the Grand Prix Special during the fifth week of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF).

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Lonoir
Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Lonoir

Competing for the first time in a CDI for the 2018 season, LaGoy-Weltz and the 14-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding (De Noir – Loran, Lorani) did not disappoint as they put in a stellar performance to clinch the win with a score of 71.957 percent.

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Lonoir
Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Lonoir

Joining LaGoy-Weltz in the winner’s circle, was Spain’s Juan Matute Guimon who claimed the second place ribbon aboard Quantico Ymas. This was the pairs first time competing in a CDI5* and Matute Guimon and the 12-year-old Hanoverian (Fighting Fit – Constant, Dasrheen) earned a score of 70.804 percent. Matute has his eyes set on qualifying for the World Equestrian Games or the U-25 European Championships depending on how the season goes.

Juan Matute Guimon and Quantico Ymas
Juan Matute Guimon and Quantico Ymas

Rounding out the top three was Canada’s Brittany Fraser and her gelding, All In. Fraser and the 13-year-old KWPN (Tango – Damiro, Leontine) earned a score of 70.761 percent for third place, only 0.043 percent behind Matute. Fraser also has plans of trying to qualify for World Equestrian Games as the season continues and is beginning her campaign with the Grand Prix Special scores.

Brittany Fraser and All In
Brittany Fraser and All In

From the Winner’s Circle

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz – First Place
On her ride:
“I was quite happy with him. It’s fabulous to win — there’s a lot of great horses in the class and I’m always trying to go in and ride the best we can. It was more horse than I was expecting today, so that was exciting in many ways, He was definitely brilliant today. Combining his brilliance with consistency is our biggest aim, and not needing to sacrifice the brilliance to have the consistency and vice versa. That’s our aim throughout the season as we work towards qualifying for our selection procedures in Europe this summer and then through the selection procedures with the goal of WEG.”

On Why She Chose the Special:
Lonoir can be a hot horse, so going under the lights for us when we’re not quite ready for the freestyle — with him being so hot today, I’m really glad we started with the Special.”

Juan Matute Guimon – Second Place
On His Ride:
“I’m very happy with our performance. I think we had barely any mistakes, at least no big mistakes. Some little harmony issues here and there but it’s something we’ll keep working on. I’m thrilled to have the 70 percent line for our first time in a CDI 5*. I’m very excited about — proud and I’m looking forward to the Special.”

On Why He Chose the Special:
“It has been a while since Quantico Ymas and I have ridden the Special. In the first CDI we chose to opt for the freestyle, which went really well and we thought it was good timing to switch and see how the Special goes and to see how he’s feeling. Also with maybe the goal of going to WEG later this year we need scores in the Special.”

Brittany Fraser – Third Place
On Her Ride:
“He felt really good today. I was a little bit worried with the heat because sometimes when it’s really hot, he gets a little lazy. But today he definitely felt amazing. It actually took me a couple of movements to get him under control, but once I got into the half pass he settled back into me very well. I thought the rest of the test went pretty good.”

On Why She Chose the Special:
“I chose to do the Special to qualify for WEG. I haven’t done a Special yet, so I thought this would be good start. We have to have four scores from the Special, so we’re just getting started.”

CDI3* Grand Prix for the Grand Prix Special  Results
Place / Rider / Country / Horse / Total Score
1. Olivia LaGoy-Weltz / USA / Lonoir / 71.957
2. Juan Matute Guimon / ESP / Quantico Ymas / 70.804
3. Brittany Fraser / CAN / All In / 70.761
4. Jill Irving / CAN / Degas 12 / 70.587
5. Megan Lane / CAN / Caravella / 70.543
6. Adrienne Lyle / USA / Salvino / 69.935
7. Arlene Page / USA / Woodstock / 69.826
8. Michael Klimke / GER / Royal Dancer 33 / 66.500
9. Joanne Vaughan / GEO / Elmegardens Marquis / 65.600
10. Diane Creech / USA / Chrevis Christo / 65.261
11. Ellesse Tzinberg / PHI / Triviant 2 / 63.696

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