After some hurried negotiations, the Florida edition of the Exquis World Dressage Masters will take place after all. The event will run at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach and is scheduled for March 9-13.

For the past two years the $130,000 WDM took place at the Palm Beach Equestrian Center, home of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington. But when top European riders failed to commit to the show early enough this year, officials for Equestrian Sports Productions decided to call off the event.

Now Noreen O’Sullivan and John Flanagan have taken over the reins for event production through their Wellington Classic Dressage, with sponsorship support from Akiko Yamazaki and the International Polo Club. Yamazaki is the owner of Ravel, Steffen Peters’ bronze-medal winning mount from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“Steffen and I committed to help bring the show back the moment we heard of its possible cancellation,” said Yamazaki. “We worked closely with John van de Laar, manager of the WDM in the Netherlands. We committed to Ravel’s participation and worked with the show managers to secure some sponsorships. We also made sure to coordinate with Anne Gribbons, Dressage Technical Advisor, and Eva Solomon, [U.S. Equestrian Federation Managing Director of Dressage and chef d’equipe], so we were all on the same page and working towards the same goal of bringing back the show.”

Last Friday, Jan. 14, WDM officials agreed to three years of the competition under Wellington Classic Dressage organization according to Dressage-News.com. The new event was promoted from a CDI* to a CDI*****, and it means WDM Palm Beach will now be part of the richest dressage competition series to date, which includes shows in Munich, Germany, on June 2-5, Falsterbo, Sweden, on July 8-11, and concludes in Hickstead, England, on July 25-31. WDM Palm Beach is the only CDI***** in North America.

“The U.S. played host to the World Cup in Las Vegas in 2009 and the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in 2010, but I am not sure when our opportunity will come again,” said Yamazaki. “WDM allows our riders and audiences to experience world class dressage on our home soil. It is the only show that has been able to attract the participation of the very top European riders, and I understand they have enjoyed coming to Florida! It would have been a real shame to lose this show and the opportunity for our riders and audiences to experience the latest in world-class dressage first-hand.” 

Although WDM falls on the same weekend as one of only two World Cup qualifiers on the West Coast, Peters is committed to riding in Florida.

“Our goal is to minimize travel for Ravel, and the WDM gives us a great opportunity to compete against the top horses without adding extensive travel abroad to his schedule. Our hope is to bring Ravel to Europe in the summer,” said Yamazaki.