“To me this was top of the bill. This was a top final at a top venue with a top field of competitors doing top performances,” Ground Jury President Jan Peeters complimented. Probably the highest standard field ever to compete in the 23rd FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final. After the Grand Prix as a warming up test won by Isabell Werth, Anky van Grunsven scored her ninth FEI World Cup™ Dressage victory, her fourth riding her Olympic champion IPS Salinero. Finnish Kyra Kyrklund took the third place aboard Max.

The tough battle between the titans Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven was not decided until the very last ride which was Anky’s. Isabell Werth and the big chestnut Warum Nicht FRH had a great test. Their Freestyle is nicely choreographed and gradually builds up to an exciting climax. Remarkable extensions and half passes were rewarded with high marks. However, the pair left little room for improvement when they a mistake in the one tempi flying changes and hardly halted at the end, which brought the score down to 82,60%.

Anky van Grunsven and IPS Salinero produced an impression of another kind. It was almost as if IPS Salinero was in a dimension of his own, simply doing his job to the music, calm and relaxed, easy going, easy moving. No shivers down the spine, but wet hands because of the harmony and stillness. The music composed by Wibi Soerjadi seemed to tone down the level of energy while increasing the overall impression of harmony. With a result of 85,20% the win was a undisputable.

“The improvement Hannes has made this season, makes me very satisfied. Today he was just not well prepared for the one tempi changes”, reacted Isabell Werth.

“I changed my preparation and trained IPS Salinero yesterday when a show jumping class was going on to help him get used to the noise. I had made a mistake on Thursday, as Salinero thought he was in a quiet place and overreacted to the crowd. It worked much better now,” Anky commented. Both riders are looking forward now to the selections for the Olympic Games.

After her nice Cabaret-Freestyle Kyra Kyrklund finishes in third place. She said she could not have wished for more. The unlucky fourth position was for Dutch Imke Schellekens-Bartels and her mare Hunter Douglas Sunrise. The magic was not there this time as the mistakes in both the one tempi changes and two tempi changes brought the scores down to 77.40%.

Wonderful rides had already attracted the eye of the completely sold our audience of 11.000 before the last pairs went.

Danish Anders Dahl had done a great test with flying changes on the circle and difficult transitions like canter to piaffe, rewarded with a score of 71,55%.

American Courtney King showed 18-year old Idocus fresh and moving to his advantage but dropped down in the score as she by mistake performed a three double pirouette to the right. This made the mark for the pirouette go to zero and the mark for the well calculated risks at the artistic side of the sheet to five. President of the Ground Jury Jan Peeters commented afterwards: “We will advise the technical committee to make a rule change as this feels unfair. My colleagues here in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and I would rather see an error of course and a sanction for that, than punish in the calculated risks and technical marks. Only now this didn’t help her anymore. Too bad.”

For FEI Official International Judge Jan Peeters the 23rd FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final was the last big championship before his retirement. “I have loved every minute of it, but now there will be more time for my wife and our grandchildren left and probably for educating and teaching near home,” he commented.

The Indoor Brabant Horseshow will do a bid next week to organise the 25th FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in 2010. Next year the FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final will be in Las Vegas again as a combined Rolex FEI World Cup™ Final in Dressage and Jumping.


RESULTS FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final FREESTYLE and final placing

1. IPS SALINERO Anky van Grunsven NED 85,20%
2. WARUM NICHT FRH Isabell Werth GER 82,60%
3. MAX Kyra Kyrklund FIN 78,15%
4. HUNTER DOUGLAS SUNRISE Imke Schellekens-Bartels NED 77,40%
5. BRIAR 899 Jan Brink SWE 76,50%
6. HEXAGON’S OLLRIGHT Laurens van Lieren NED 76,10%
7. GREDSTEDGARDS CASMIR Andreas Helgstrand DEN 75,20%
8. DIGBY 2 Nathalie zu Sayn Wittgenstein DEN 73,45%
9. PAGANINI Jeroen Devroe BEL 72,90%
10. AFRIKKA Anders Dahl DEN 71,55%
11. DONNA CARRERA Rozzy Ryan AUS 69,60%
12. MAKSYMILIAN Janer Hannigan USA 69,45%
13. RANDON Michal Rapcewicz POL 69,05%%
12. ISIDOR 46 Louise Nathhorst SWE 68,00%
7. IDOCUS Courtney King USA 63,40%


PHOTO CATALOGUE - Photographs of the winning riders in high and low resolution can be downloaded from the FEI online catalogue. To access it, please visit www.horsesport.org>Media Centre>Catalogue. There is no reproduction fee, but please credit photographer (photographer’s name will appear under each photo)/FEI. Usage is strictly for editorial purposes.

For further information on the FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch , The Netherlands, check out website http://www.indoorbrabant.com Press officer Cindy Velstra during show +31 73 6218606, Telefax +31 73 629 32 45.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES FOR FEI WORLD CUP™ DRESSAGE RIDERS FROM FEI WEBSITE www.feiworldcup.org

FEI World Cup™ Dressage has entered its 23rd season. The FEI World Cup™ Dressage is the only worldwide series in this discipline. The series, created in 1985, today comprises 4 leagues encompassing Western Europe, Central Europe, North America (including Canada) and the Pacific League (Australia, New Zealand, Asia). Each FEI World Cup™ Dressage qualifier comprises a Grand Prix test, which in turn is a qualification for the Freestyle to music competitions, where league points are accumulated towards places in the Final. Judged on both technical and artistic merit, the FEI World Cup™ Dressage combines art, sport and partnership between horse and rider at the highest level and consistently proves a winning formula with audiences all over the world.

For further information on the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) http://www.fei.org For further information and all FEI World Cup ™ news: www.feiworldcup.org

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133 National Federations.

Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since 1912 with three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of the very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms. It is also the only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider. The FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse, which is paramount and must never be subordinated to competitive or commercial influences.