Spanish Olympian Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and her European Championship kur bronze medal winning mount Delgado scored a personal best in the Grand Prix at the World Cup qualifier in Lyon, France, on Thursday morning 29 October 2015. The Barcelona based rider and her Westfalian gelding posted a score of 79.260% on the board to win the class.
Fifteen riders contested the World Cup Grand Prix Lyon after Dutch Hans Peter Minderhoud dropped out yesterday because his mount Flirt developed a temperature in Lyon. Italian Valentina Truppa was supposed to make her second World Cup appearance on her younger Grand Prix horse Ranieri but she withdrew more than a week ago.
In Lyon, Ferrer-Salat and the 14-year old De Niro x Weltmeyer offspring scored 79.260% which was an improvement to their previous personal best of 77.186% set at the 2015 European Championships in Aachen.
"My horses did a really nice test," Ferrer-Salat reported. "Before going into the ring, he was quite hot in the warm-up. Lyon is a nice show and it has the advantage of not being too far from my place: 600 km from Barcelona to Lyon. It's much more easy than other shows. Tomorrow I will ride my kur from Aachen. It will only be the third time that I have ridden it in front of the judges and the first time indoors."
Swedish Patrik Kittel and the 11-year old Swedish warmblood mare Deja (by Silvano x Don Schufro) finished second with 76.380%.
"I'm very satisfied," Kittel explained. "The mare hasn't been out since the Championships in Aachen. it's her big come back here in Lyon. Yesterday she was very hot. We definitely need a few extra Grand Prix rides to find full form again, but she already did an excellent job here in Lyon. Her score here is right in the middle from the marks we got in Aachen and her maximum of 79%." Kittel added a few words of appreciation for the Lyon show: "the organisation is perfect, the footing very good. Everything is done for a good experience for the riders and the well being of the horses."
The best French rider of the class was French team new comer Pierre Volla on the Dutch bred Badinda Altena (by Tango). He finished seventh with 70.640%. The duo made its world cup debut in Lyon.
"The feeling here in Lyon is just amazing. I had a great time. We are still adjusting a few things with the horse, but it’s a great result for a first time out, particularly considering she is only nine years old," said Volla. "She really wants to work with me: let’s hope it lasts."
Volla was pleased with how Badinda Altena coped with the indoor environment. Lyon was their second show since the 2015 European Championships in Aachen in August. "She can get a bit hot in canter, but she is a mare and so you need to speak to her in the right way," Volla eplained. "For her and me the goal was to gain experience, but also to show the mare to the judges; the aim is to take part in the Rio Olympics, so we need to prove that we can do things well and that there is a progression. For the moment, we are still working on things, but you also need to know how to remain calm because Badinda is still a baby.”
Photos © Equita Lyon
Related Links
Scores 2015 CDI-W Lyon
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2015 - 2016 World Cup circuit