Hagen: Freestyle victory for Frederic Wandres and Duke of Britain FRH
Hagen a. T.W. (fn-press). Dressage rider Frederic Wandres (Hagen a. T. W.) started the World Championship season with a new personal record. He won the Grand Prix Freestyle at the “Horses&Dreams” tournament with his proven gelding Duke of Britain FRH – and that in front of his home crowd at Hof Kasselmann. The 35-year-old, a member of the German Olympic squad, thus contributed another victory to the very successful record of the German dressage riders at the start of the outdoor season.
Wandres and the Hanoverian gelding Duke of Britain FRH (by Dimaggio – Rubinstein) achieved 83.630 percent in the Grand Prix Freestyle, which was held under floodlights in the jumping stadium. Only in the two changes did the two make a mistake, which they made up for on the joker line at the end of the gallop tour. "The later the better! Late night show for Duke - he loves his stadium," said Wandres, who works as a rider at Hof Kasselmann, about the victory. “I noticed as soon as I warmed up that he was in great shape. He also brought the feeling into the arena and was just great! On top of that, a new personal best, I'm just super happy with him. Hopefully we can keep everything as fit and healthy and continue the same way at the next tournament."
The pair had already presented themselves well in the Grand Prix on Friday and took second place with a result of 77.239 percent. The two received the highest mark ten for the piaffe for the first time. “That was a very good Grand Prix with many highlights in piaffe and passage. The two have already shown very consistent and reliable performances in the past year. Even now, the horse has come through the winter consistently and freshly and presented himself super fit here in Hagen. That's very gratifying at the beginning of the season," said national coach Monica Theodorescu and also praised the performance of Wandres and Duke in the freestyle: "They did very well. The horse was optimally prepared, lively and active in the matter. You could see that they had fun doing the freestyle.”
The only 22-year-old Semmieke Rothenberger (Bad Homburg) also achieved great results with her Dutch mare Flanell. Last year they were European champions in the U25 age group, but the two are now attacking the seniors. The couple also competed in the freestyle tour in Hagen, for the first time at this level in the open air and with strong national and international competition. In the Grand Prix they came fifth with 73.152 percent and seventh in the freestyle with 77.445 percent. They were the second best German couple after Wandres and Duke.
All in all, the national coach, two weeks after the World Cup finals in the Leipzig exhibition halls, was very satisfied with the start of the international outdoor season in Hagen, where numerous couples from the Olympic and perspective squads were at the start. The day before, Isabell Werth had celebrated her fourth win this weekend. She was represented in Hagen with two horses, DSP Quantaz and Superb. And Benjamin Werndl was also happy about top placings with Famoso OLD. "It was a successful start to the season with the best conditions for horses and riders and very pleasing results," said Monica Theodorescu. “Superb still has little experience, but was able to show her quality in her first international Grand Prix. Quantaz was very powerful and dynamic on his first outdoor start. A very good performance with many highlights and a lot of perspective. Benni and Famoso were able to show two very clean tests with many highlights and ease in following and giving help. And we saw many other couples doing well. Mistakes were still made here and there and the horses were vigorous, but that is not a punishable offense in the first outdoor tournament. There is a lot of potential in the generation of horses coming out now.”
The Dressage World Championships will take place from August 6th to 14th in Herning, Denmark. The German Championships in Balve (June 9-12) are the first major screening tournament for the World Championships. Until then, there are still numerous international tournaments on the program in the coming weeks, including the Mannheim Maimarkt tournament, Pferd International in Munich and the Wiesbaden Whitsun tournament, where other couples from the Olympic and perspective squad will also start the season, such as Dorothee Schneider , Helen Langehanenberg and Matthias Alexander Rath. jbc
