Valegro and Totilas go head-to-head in Aachen

The CDIO5* at Aachen, Germany (17 – 20 July) was a not-to-be-missed event for a number of reasons; for several riders across many countries, Aachen marked the last chance to impress a nation’s WEG selectors – GBR’s team for the World Equestrian Games (WEG) will be announced this week, watch this space. However, the most popular reason to tune into the German CDIO5* appeared to be the head-to-head between two titans, three-time world record holder, Valegro and current world champion and comeback king, Totilas.

Thursday’s team event, the grand prix, saw Nikki Crisp and her trusty partner of 12 years, 17-year-old KWPN mare Pasoa, score a healthy 66.98%. Not too far away was Team GBR’s second representative, Daniel Watson, and his ride, Susie Farnon’s 14-year-old Fidermark gelding, Fideramber, who worked through the immense heat in Germany and scored 67.52% - despite a costly mistake in the tempi changes.

27-year-old Michael Eilberg and Jon and Julie Deverill’s 12-year-old Dimaggio mare, Half Moon Delphi, appeared to be unfazed by the electric atmosphere at the Deutsche Bank Stadium, posting a strong score of 74.02% - placing them tenth.

With the German team’s Matthias Rath and Totilas performing their best test to date, achieving a score of 82.30%, all eyes fell on 29-year-old Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro. Owned by Carl Hester and Roly Luard, the 12-year-old Negro gelding and his rider made a few costly mistakes in the tempi changes and canter pirouettes, bringing their eventual score to 76.90% – their first below-80% score since January 2012 – placing them sixth and Totilas to take the first victory of the competition.

Combining the top three scores together to achieve a total mark, Team GBR scored 218.44 placing them fourth and just five marks behind second place’s The Netherlands (223.38). However, it was the German team who ran away with the title, posting a huge score of 243.10 with two post-80% tests.

Proving that even the best can have their off days and showing why she is an inspiration to so many, Charlotte took to her Facebook to reflect on the day. “There were a few expensive errors in our test but as they say, it’s not how many times you fall down, it’s how many times you get back up! Blueberry worked really well today and we'll do our very best in the Special tomorrow. As I have always said horses are not machines and whether it's a horse error or rider error, we learn from it, keep going and more importantly continue to enjoy it because that’s what it’s all about.”

Keeping to their word and putting the grand prix behind them, Charlotte and Valegro – or Blueberry as he’s known at home – showed a return to form in the grand prix special, scoring 83.15%, just behind Matthias and Totilas, who won the class on 84.52%. Michael and Half Moon Delphi continued to improve, posting an impressive mark of 74.70% and placing them ninth.

However, it was in the grand prix kür where the record breaking duo showed they were back with a vengeance. Scoring a massive 87.90%, Charlotte and Valegro topped the leader board and were crowned champions once more. The only small issue was that Matthias and Totilas withdrew from the kür, so it looks like we’ll have to wait until the WEG in August for a rematch.

Michael and Half Moon Delphi – or Maggie as she’s known by her friends – broke the illusive 80% with their kür, scoring 80.47% and moving up the leader board one more place to eighth; an amazing achievement for Michael and the British-bred mare.

Moving away from the CDIO5*, the Deutsche Bank Stadium also played host to a CDI4* (16 – 19 July). Not content with just the team event, Michael Eilberg also brought his father’s 14-year-old Latvian gelding, Marakov to the German town, to be Britain’s sole representative in the CDI4* competition.

Partners for over seven years, Michael and Marakov posted a score of 71.60% in the grand prix, placing them fourth and through to Saturday’s kür where they scored 70.52%, which put them into eighth place.

For the full list of results, click here.

CDIO5*

Grand Prix

1^st Matthias Rath and Totilas (GER), 82.30%

2^nd Helen Langehanenberg and Damon Hill NRW (GER), 81.22%

3^rd Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival N.O.P. (NED), 80.98%

6^th Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro (GBR), 76.90%

10^th Michael Eilberg and Half Moon Delphi (GBR), 74.02%

35^th Daniel Watson and Fideramber (GBR), 67.52%

37^th Nikki Crisp and Pasoa (GBR), 66.98%

CDIO team results

1^st Germany, 243.10

2^nd Netherlands, 223.38

3^rd Spain, 220.60

4^th Great Britain, 218.44

Grand Prix Special

1^st Matthias Rath and Totilas (GER), 84.52%

2^nd Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro (GBR), 83.15%

3^rd Helen Langehanenberg and Damon Hill NRW (GER), 82.07%

9^th Michael Eilberg and Half Moon Delphi (GBR), 74.70%

Grand Prix Kür

1^st Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro (GBR), 87.90%

2^nd Helen Langehanenberg and Damon Hill NRW (GER), 86.02%

3^rd Isabell Werth and Bella Rose 2 (GER), 85.15%

8^th Michael Eilberg and Half Moon Delphi (GBR), 80.47%

CDI4*

Grand Prix

4^th Michael Eilberg and Marakov (GBR), 71.60%

Grand Prix Kür

8^th Michael Eilberg and Marakov (GBR), 70.52%