America’s Buffini heads startlist as Short Grand Prix gets 2022 Final underway
Written by Louise Parkes
The 35th FEI Dressage World Cup Final kicks off tomorrow evening in Leipzig (GER) with America’s Anna Buffini and her 15-year-old mare FRH Davinia la Douce first to go in the Short Grand Prix.
The draw for the starting order took place this afternoon and it was recently-crowned Olympic and European champions, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB, who got the best of it when drawn last of the 17 starters from 12 countries.
Defending champions, Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD, will start in twelfth position.
The coveted series title will be decided in Saturday night’s Freestyle.
The order-of-go for tomorrow’s opening competition is as follows:
1. FRH Davinia la Douce – Anna Buffini USA
2. Sir Donnerhall ll OLD – Morgan Barbancon FRA
3. Aquamarijn – Yvonne Losos de Muñiz DOM
4. All at Once – Yessin Rahmouni MAR
5. Atterupgaards Orthilia – Nanna Skodborg Merrald DEN
6. Hexagon’s Ich Weiss – Thamar Zweistra NED
7. Dark Legend – Charlotte Fry GBR
8. Quantico – Juan Matute Guimon ESP
9. Fogoso Horsecampline – Rodrigo Torres POR
10. Heiline’s Danciera – Carina Cassøe Kruth DEN
11. Blue Hors Zepter – Patrik Kittel SWE
12. Weihegold OLD – Isabell Werth GER
13. Havanna 145 – Ashley Holzer USA
14. Annabelle – Helen Langehanenberg GER
15. Vamos Amigos – Cathrine Dufour DEN
16. Aachen – Alisa Glinka MDA
17. TSF Dalera BB – Jessica von Bredow-Werndl GER
Facts and Figures:
Germany’s Isabell Werth and the 17-year-old mare Weihegold OLD will be defending the title they won together in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
In total Werth has won five FEI Dressage World Cup titles, her first recorded in 1992 riding Fabienne and her second posted in 2007 with Warum Nicht.
If victorious at the 2022 Final, Werth will become the first four-in-a-row champion of this prestigious series and Weihegold will be the first horse to win on four consecutive occasions.
After a sparkling career, Weihegold OLD will be officially retired after Saturday’s Freestyle title-decider.
The first competition at the FEI Dressage World Cup Final 2022 in Leipzig (GER) is the Short Grand Prix which will take place tomorrow, Thursday 7 April, starting at 18.30 local time.
The youngest horse at the Final is the nine-year-old stallion Hexagon’s Ich Weiss ridden by The Netherlands’ Thamar Zweistra.
The oldest horses in the competition are Aquamarine ridden by Dominican Republic’s Yvonne Losos de Muniz, Atterupgaards Orthilia ridden by Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Isabelle Werth’s Weihegold who are all 17 years of age.
The youngest rider at this year’s Final is Spain’s Juan Matute Guimon who is 24.
The first FEI Dressage World Cup Final took place in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED) in 1986 and the first winner was Denmark’s Anne-Goethe Jensen riding Marzog.
The Finals of the FEI Dressage World Cup were cancelled in both 2018 and 2019 due to the pandemic.
The country holding the record for most wins in the FEI Dressage World Cup™ series is The Netherlands, with a total of 13 including a phenomenal nine of those posted by Anky van Grunsven.
The German contingent at this year’s Final includes Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB who swept all before them at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and at the FEI Dressage European Championships in 2022.
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