It was a successful trip to Germany for our two riders at Perl CDI4* with both riders securing top eight placings in the big tour classes. World Class Performance rider Michael Eilberg posted two 70%+ scores in the grand prix and special with Jon and Julie Deverill’s Half Moon Delphi to confirm they were a good choice for next month’s European Championships while Nikki Crisp and Pasoa were as consistent as ever with 67%+ scores in both tests.
In Friday’s grand prix to qualify for the special, there was tough competition from the home team with seasoned campaigner Isabell Werth earning a fabulous 76.277% with her nine year old mare Bella Rose while European reserve combination Nadine Capellmann and Girasol were second with 72.915%. This left Michael and ‘Maggie’ third with 71.745% but two judges did place him second. 69.064% gave Nikki sixth with ‘P’. This meant both riders qualified for the Special.
Another few days to settle into the venue gave the Dimaggio-sired Half Moon Delphi increased confidence and they picked up extra marks to score 73.854% which put them second behind Werth who again dominated with Bella Rose, a full four percent ahead of Michael – certainly a horse to watch closely for the future. Third went to Swiss rider Marcela Krinke-Susmelj riding Smeyers Molberg on 72.708%. Nikki, a member of the World Class Development squad, and Pasoa couldn’t build on their grand prix run and scored 67.875% for eighth.
In the small tour classes, Michael took his father’s Torino for some international ‘mileage’ and 68.079% gave them 14th place in the prix st georges. In Saturday’s Inter I freestyle, the combination really pulled out the stops and broke the 70% barrier with 70.35% to lie sixth.
Full results – click here.