Raleigh, N.C., June 3

Raleigh, N.C., is turning out to be a pretty special place for Currency DC. The gelding won the USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage Eastern Selection Trials here as a 6-year-old in 2006, and he returned today as a Grand Prix horse, winning his test with a 66.31 percent.

“We’re so happy with him,” said his rider Susan Dutta. “He’s coming along and each show he gets better. I can’t really complain about anything.”

Laying down a smooth test in the 10-horse CDI Grand Prix, with the only major bobbles coming in the one-tempis and the first two halts, “Curry” proved that even though this is only his second season at Grand Prix, he’s figuring it out quickly. Dutta’s been focusing on keeping his piaffe more on the spot now that’s he’s a bit more confirmed at the level, and she thought she made some progress during this Grand Prix test.

“He didn’t stand still in the first two halts. He’s done that since he was a young horse—sometimes he stands and sometimes he doesn’t,” she said. “He’s such a young Grand Prix horse, and I’m really working on keeping that big piaffe on the spot. That was my job at this show—to get braver and just say, ‘You can do this.’ I was really happy because there was the one place, after the big extension, that he could have really pulled through me in the piaffe, but I made a big half-halt there and tried to make a difference to him. It was a little wiggly but more on the spot.”

Curry, an 11-year-old Oldenburg (Clintino—Cinderella, Classiker) owned by Tim Dutta Inc., and Susie’s scores ranged from a 63.19 percent (from Joanne Graham at M) to a 69.14 percent (from Elizabeth McMullen at E).

“It passages its guts out and pirouettes like that, and you think, ‘There’s nothing 63 about you!’ Sixty-five is a score you can understand, but 63 is not good! It hurt my feelings a little bit,” Susie said with a laugh.

Susie, based in Wellington, Fla., took Curry to Europe last year and competed him, finishing second in the Grand Prix Special at the CDI in Hamburg, Germany. Susie and her husband Tim spend most of their time in Wellington with their son Timmy, but they are heading up to North Salem, N.Y., for the summer this year.

“I think he’s really a future horse,” Susie said. “He has a lot of potential; we just have to build it up layer by layer. We opted to stay home this summer and do some CDIs on the East Coast. If I can build my points and scores up, then we’ll take him to Europe in the fall. I want to focus on my family this summer. I can’t thank my husband and son enough.”

Susanne Dansby Bollman rode the 19-year-old Cooper into second in the Grand Prix with a 66.29 percent, right behind Curry and Dutta. Arlene “Tuny” Page and Wild One were third (65.34%).

Last But Not Least For Lars In Prix St. Georges

Nineteen of the 20 small tour horses had already taken their turns in the Prix St. Georges before Lars Petersen and Willano entered at A. But they quickly made their mark on the class, taking a nearly two-point lead over the former leaders Endel Ots and Toscano. Scoring between a 69.47 percent (from Charlotte Bredahl-Baker at E) and a 70.78 percent (from Lois Yukins at C) for a final score of 70.21 percent, Williano’s nearly flawless test was more than good enough for first. Toscano finished second and Witness Hilltop, ridden by Christopher Hickey, was third.

“I was very, very happy with him,” Petersen said. “I thought the tempis were good, and the trot work was nice. I think he’s just a beautiful horse to look at, and he was really good.”

This is only the second CDI for Williano, a 9-year-old Danish Warmblood (Willemoes—Aleksina, Aleksander) gelding owned by Global Dressage Sales LLC. Petersen’s had him in his barn since the horse was a 4-year-old but has kept him on a light competition schedule.

“I haven’t shown him so much, and he’s only done a couple of a Prix St. Georges, too, at national shows. He did his first Intermediaire I last weekend in New Jersey,” Petersen said. “He was a little difficult as a young horse, just a little looky and spooky, but he’s basically been good.”

Full Raleigh CDI results available at Fox Village.