Isabell Werth - who else? That is exactly how it can be phrased in view of her present clear dominance. Ultimately, her fellow competitors didn't have a chance in the Lindt Prize, the Grand Prix Spéciale of the CDI Tour on Friday evening, (July 6th),
since the double World Champion rode convincingly to her third victory at the CHIO Aachen 2007.
With the 11-year-old Warum nicht, who already won the Grand Prix on Thursday morning, (July 5th), the 37-year-old rider from Rheinberg clearly outclassed her fellow competitors.
"In fact I think this is the first time Hannes has ever performed under floodlight. He did a fantastic job, at the beginning something startled him once, but then he was simply superb," the rider from Rheinberger said with content. For her performance with the current World Cup winner, who is affectionately known as "Hannes" at home, Werth was awarded an overall score of 75.360 percent from the five international judges - 5.720 percent more than the runner-up, Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, who had saddled her 11-year-old Rigoletto. The Danish rider commented afterwards: "We bred him ourselves, he performed very well here today and I am extremely satisfied.
The Dutch team rider, Hans Peter Minderhout, who rode the 14-year-old Oldenburg horse, Exquis Escapado, took third place in the CDI Tour with a score of 68.840 percent. "Escapado was out with injury for one and a half years and has only competed at three shows since. He was a little bit worked up at first and was rather tense as a result."
The second best German rider, Monica Theodorecsu (Sassenberg) followed in fourth place with 68.440 percent. The team Olympic winner presented her aspiring young horse, Whisper, a nine-year-old gelding by Welt Hit I. "Yesterday he was still rather overwhelmed by the stadium, but today he was good to ride," she noted happily. The rider from Sassenberg was even awarded a ten from one of the judges for her horse's extended walk.
The Austrian rider Victoria Max-Theurer was rather unlucky because she took the wrong route in her test. "The last time that happened to me was ten years ago in a novice dressage class," the 21-year-old admitted.
Freestyle World Champion, Anky van Grunsven (The Netherlands), who secured second place behind Isabell Werth in the Grand Prix on Thursday morning (July 5th) with Painted Black, opted for the Freestyle competition of the CDI Tour (unlike in the O-Tour, where all of the top pairs have to compete in all three competitions, in the CDI Tour the riders have to choose). The 38-year-old is top favourite to win the Philips Prize on Saturday evening (July 7th), which begins at 8.30 p.m. in the Deutsche Bank Stadium.
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