Steffen Peters on Ravel, Isabell Werth on Satchmo and Anky van Grunsven on Salinero will head up an all-star cast at the Exquis World Dressage Masters next month in Wellington, Fla. This event kicks off the second year of the globe’s richest line-up of dressage events.
The CDI***** event, held Feb. 4-6, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center will be the first meeting of the three top combinations since the German and Dutch women were runners-up to Peters and Ravel at the Rolex FEI World Cup in Las Vegas, Nev., last April.
Last year, van Grunsven made an impressive comeback in the Florida WDM to win with IPS Painted Black, and this year the dressage superstar will be riding her top horse Salinero.
Werth and Satchmo will be returning after a six-month showing break. She was suspended from competition on June 23 for a positive drug test on a different horse, and she gave birth to a baby boy at the end of October. Despite the long break, Werth had accumulated so many points in six months of competition that she entered 2010 with Satchmo in the top 10 in the FEI World Rankings.
U.S. Equestrian Federation Rider and Horse of the Year, Peters and Ravel placed third in last year’s WDM, but the U.S. pair racked up unprecedented wins at the World Cup Final and in the Grand Prix classes at the Aachen (Germany) CDIO in July.
Since July, Ravel has only competed once, placing first with 80.21 percent in the Grand Prix at the Dressage Getaway in Indio, Calif., in November. He will not contest the World Cup Final again this year. Instead, Peters is focused on preparing him for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky this fall.
A special gala night of equestrian entertainment is scheduled for Friday night, Feb. 5, headlined by a “ride off” between Steffen Peters and a top European rider.
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Top riders from five nations are scheduled to compete including:
- Canada — Ashley Holzer, three-time Olympian, on Pop Art, Belinda Trussell on Anton and Cheryl Meisner on Paganini
- Germany — Ulla Salzgeber, Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion, on Wakana, and Anja Plöntzke on Le Mont d’Or, winners of the Cannes WDM Grand Prix Special
- The Netherlands — Stephanie Peters and Christa Laarakkers on Ovation
- Denmark — Mikala Munter Gundersen on Leonberg, and Lars Petersen, Olympian and World Cup competitor, aboard Succes
- USA — Leslie Morse, winner of the WDM Hickstead Grand Prix Special, World Equestrian Games and World Cup competitor, aboard Tip Top, Lauren Sammis on Sagacious HF, 2007 Pan American Games team gold and individual silver medal winners, Tina Konyot on Calecto V, Reese Koffler Stanfield on Goughberg’s Kaspar and Michael Barisone on Neruda, winner of the Palm Beach WDM Grand Prix Special and reserve for the 2008 Olympic team.
Other horse and rider combinations may qualify at a CDI the week before or receive an invitation from the organizers, Equestrian Sport Productions.
Tickets are on sale at www.equestriansport.com.
