Easy Sweep for Sandra Sysojeva at 2026 CDI Opglabbeek

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

For World Nr. 9 ranked dressage rider Sandra Sysojeva the 2026 CDI Opglabbeek in Belgium on 29 October - 1 November 2027 became an easy sweep for her, collecting five trophies out of five starts. 

The 2026 CDI Opglabbeek "Festival 4 Dressage" was the third indoor competition of the 2026-2027 winter season on the FEI calendar and boasted classes from pony level to 4* Grand Prix.

Taking place at Sentower Park, one of Europe's leading indoor competition facilities that hosts CSI jumping classes every weekend non-stop, with an occasional opportunity for a dressage show or stallion licensing to squeeze into their packed programme.  The "Festival 4 Dressage" was inaugurated in Opglabbeek in 2021 and held there again in 2022, but it moved to Aachen for a three-year cycle. The competition came back to Opglabbeek as a indoor autumn show instead of an early outdoor spring season opener. 

Easy Pickings

For Belgian based, Lithuanian born, Polish Olympian Sandra Sysojeva it were easy pickings as this international competition served mainly for up and coming riders to introduce their new mounts to new levels, or for inexperienced riders and horses to gain valuable mileage in an outstanding setting. (For Eurodressage this CDI is far more interesting to cover than another world cup qualifier with the same 15 riders all over again in a far-away location.)

Routinier Sysojeva grabbed the spoils, riding her 10-year old Oldenburg mare Maxima Bella (by Millennium x Christ) into her 66th international Grand Prix test since their big tour debut in February 2024. For 2026 alone this was their 20th and 21st test of the year - their season began at the end of February 2026. The mare was flown twice, to Doha in Qatar and the World Cup Finals in Fort Worth, Texas (USA) in the spring, finished 9th at the 2026 World Championships in Aachen in August, did two CDI's in Poland in September, and was now back on call in Opglabbeek, just a stone's throw away from where they live in Belgium.

For 2026 Sysojeva brought her tally to 13 international wins on Maxima Bella, claiming victory in the Opglabbeek 4* Grand Prix with 73.391% and in the Kur to Music with 79.195%. In the 4* Grand Prix the mare showed an improved bridle contact in the trot and piaffe-passage work with flawless transitions, but was rather over-collected in the canter work and got wide behind in the pirouette left. 

Jewel Star

Sysojeva also debuted a new horse at small tour level: Alisa Glinka's 12-year old Dutch warmblood Jewel Star (by El Capone x Krack C). 

The bay has meandered across Europe, selling to Russian Natalia Bronnikova as a young horse and briefly carrying the prefix "Kartsevo". She had the horse competed in the young horse classes by Russian Ekaterina Zoshchuk, who finished 26th in the 5-year old consolation finals at the 2019 World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo, before Russian Evgeny Sharangovisch took over the ride in 2021. Jewel Star sold in 2022 to Russian born Alisa Glinka, who rides for Moldova. She competed him at international small tour level in 2022 before moving him in training with Rudolf Widmann in Germany. Glinka has put her riding career on hold lately and sent the horse to Sysojeva in Belgium.

Sandra and the bay mastered the small tour and won all three classes. They bested a field of 27 Prix St Georges riders with 72.500% and won the Intermediaire I with 72.598% and the Intermediaire I Kur with 77.317%. 

Back to the 4* Grand Prix

Coming back to the 4* Grand Prix the runner up was German Tobias Nabben on Eva Marie Kruse's highly talented 11-year old Hanoverian gelding Forster (by Finest x Boston). The black gelding has a fantastic piaffe and passage and executes straight and uphill tempi changes. They placed second with 71.695%.

Belgian Jeroen Devroe and his 2026 Belgian WEG team horse Lestor (by Ghandi x Painted Black) were third with 71.196%. Devroe won the 3* Grand Prix on his second big tour horse Jackpot, but scored even higher with his 10-year old KWPN gelding. The bay has a lovely piaffe-passage tour and can really stay on the spot in piaffe. The second piaffe could have been a bit more collected and under (and got a bit tilted to the left) and the one tempi changes are laboured, but the pair is finding its stride and the horse seems to be getting more comfortable in the work.

German Thomas Wagner and the 11-year old Hanovrian gelding Escolar's Emil (by Escolar x Contender) finished fourth with 71.152%. The huge, bay gelding showed powerful trot and canter extensions. The one tempi's were straighter than the two's. In the second piaffe there was some back-stepping with the right hind leg. Emil is listed as owned by Christine Wagner. 

The top five was completed by French Olympian Corentin Pottier, who has kept his number one ride Gotilas home since the CDI Rotterdam in June. Focusing on new ride San Cloud's Lucky, a 13-year old Hanoverian by San Amour x Wolkenstein II), Pottier rode his 6th CDI on the American owned gelding in a year time. The straight one tempi changes were a highlight, the collected walk was a bit tense. They posted 69.826%.

-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - 

No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Eurodressage took photos of almost all riders at the 2026 CDI Opglabbeek. Email me if you are interested in buying photos

Related Links
Scores: 2026 CDI Opglabbeek
Devroe's Tidy Ride Earns Him 2026 CDI Opglabbeek 3* Grand Prix Victory
The CDI Festival 4 Dressage Returns Home in 2026: From Aachen to Opglabbeek