Fraser-Beaulieu and Jaccardo Rock World Cup Qualifier at 2025 CDI-W Toronto

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2025 CDI-W Toronto

-- EC press release, edited by Eurodressage

Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu of St. Bruno, QC, captured the $20,000 Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W at the Royal Horse Show, part of the 103rd Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, ON.

After an 18-year break from hosting a World Cup qualifier in Toronto - the last one was in 2007 - the 2025 edition was back to CDI-W status as a qualifying event for the 2026 World Cup Finals taking place April 8-12 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Retro Music Vibes

The fun evening featured plenty of retro music vibes and was led off by Mathilde Blais Tetreault of Montreal, QC, riding Fedor. The duo had some lovely canter and piaffe/passage work, but unfortunately missed a movement and valuable points. Next up was Naïma Moreira Laliberté riding the 18-year-old campaigner Statesman, who displayed great energy to match his vintage disco playlist and received 71.300%.

The lone US rider, Meagan Davis, withdrew her horse Toronto Lightfoot, just before entering the ring, which left the final three riders to decide the podium.

Denielle Gallagher, based out of Morriston, FL, rode the lovely 13-year-old Lusitano gelding Come Back de Massa, owned by herself and Ellen Lazarus, to an arrangement from the movie soundtrack of “Spirit”, scoring 73.175%, which marked a personal best effort.

Recently-named Canadian Dressage Athlete of the Year for 2025, Camille Carier Bergeron of Laval, QC, (who is coached by Fraser-Beaulieu) rode Finnlanderin, a 15-year-old Oldenburg mare she owns together with her dad Gilles Bergeron, to a score of 75.275%. Their test had beautiful passage tours and a lovely flow to it and incorporated an interesting mix of music including Shania Twain that was awarded with high marks for interpretation.

Fraser and Jaccardo Rock

It was Fraser-Beaulieu and Jaccardo an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (by Desperado x Jazz) owned by Jill Irving, that would wrap up the evening on a rousing high note, choosing a selection of tunes from Britney Spears's catalogue. The pair received excellent marks across the board, save for a slight bobble in the two-tempi, to score 77.520 % – their second decisive win this week after taking Monday's FEI Grand Prix.

Incredibly, this was just the pair's second CDI freestyle, with Jaccardo only being introduced to the Grand Prix ranks this summer. "I did my first CDI freestyle with him in Bromont at the end of August, so I'm just trying to get to know the pattern, get to know the music, and just see how he is with it. But he loves it. It's really fun music," said Fraser-Beaulieu, with a nod to the British composer and freestyle specialist Tom Hunt's compilation.

Critiquing her test, the busy mother of two young children reflected, "I thought my one-tempis on centreline were very good. I thought my pirouettes were great. I thought the whole flow of it felt really nice. My twos were, unfortunately, very costly. He was bit fresh to my leg tonight because of the atmosphere, and this is only his second time showing inside. But I'm so proud of him for going in there. Last night was a lot for him going around the outside, and tonight, he acted like it was no big deal. So that's what I'm most proud of, him learning and growing. He's an incredible horse. I'm super excited for our future."

Six in Toronto

President of the ground jury, FEI 5* international judge at “C”, Stephen Clarke (GBR), commented on the quality of horses and riders he has seen here at The Royal. A field of six riders gathered for the CDI-W, five of them Canadian and one American pair.

"The winner, I must say, was outstanding," said Clarke. "But all the horses, even though they were a little nervous in the atmosphere, the training was good and they all produced some nice tests."

His is pleased that CDI-W competition has returned to this venue. "I think it's a fantastic opportunity for the riders to expose their horses to this wonderful atmosphere, because it's not very often they have that chance, and especially those that are going to go on to compete in the huge championships with big atmosphere. This is the most valuable thing they can do."

Clarke has judged at The Royal "many times" and added, "Toronto is my favourite city in the world, and this show has such a unique and special atmosphere, it makes us all feel very proud to be here."