Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro dominated the €250,000 2015 Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage finals in Las Vegas (16 – 18 April 2015) in winning both the grand prix and a second World Cup title for their amazing freestyle performance. The dynamic duo were simply untouchable in the intimate surroundings of the Thomas & Mack centre over the two leg final with the American crowd (a 10,900 sell out for the freestyle) taking them to their hearts.
Thursday’s grand prix was the qualifying round for Saturday’s final and a minimum score of 68% was needed to secure a place. The news from Nevada ahead of the class was that Valegro was feeling ‘a bit flat’ with jet lag and heat strain but careful management by Carl (Hester), Charlotte and groom Alan Davies ensured he was on form when it really mattered. Once the Negro gelding saw the lights and heard the applause, he rose the occasion like the showman we’ve all grown to adore. 14 tens from the five judges contributed to a score of 85.414%, which no other combination would get within 6.4% of. Second spot went to Edward Gal and Glock’s Undercover with 79.057%. The 14 year old Ferro gelding has matured as he’d have found the close proximity of the crowd and applause almost unbearable just a few seasons ago, testament to the Dutchman’s careful preparation of the horse. It was a delight for the home crowd as popular combination Steffen Peters and Legolas were a surprise third on 76.843%. “It’s a big surprise to a lot of people and myself too!” Steffen told the FEI. He continued; “He’s had lots of outings and we even went to an event three hours north where there were about 100 people and a lot of noise and atmosphere. We recorded cheering and music, and put it on a five-minute sound-file and played it over the audio system. We prepared a lot, and I’m thrilled because it has worked out beautifully!” he said
A day off for ‘Blueberry’ on Friday with just gentle exercise was just what he needed ahead of his big test on the show biz stage.
Saturday dawned with the home crowd full of hope for a fitting finale to the year-long, world-wide series, buoyed further by the success of the home riders, Steffen Peters and Laura Graves (Verdades, fifth on Thursday) and the previous performance by Charlotte and Valegro, owned by Carl Hester, Roly Luard and Anne Barrott, which just stunned them. The draw meant that the champion was likely to come from the last nine riders, with Valegro fourth last to go.
The lead chopped and changed with almost every competitor. Russian Inness Merkulova shone with Mister X to score 76.911 but each rider then bettered her score. Isabell Werth and El Santo NRW stole the lead with 77.875, then it was the turn of Hans Peter Minderhoud with Glock’s Flirt to snatch the lead with 79.036%. Then the home crowd went wild with the announcement of Laura Graves and Verdades, who are the Charlotte & Valegro of America. The bay gelding was more settled to the crowd’s enthusiasm than the previous trip into the arena and scored 79.125%.
Then it was the turn of the Olympic, World and European champions…and they simply turned up the difficulty, harmony and performance to blow everyone away. A staggering 41 tens were awarded, 22 from two of the judges, with all five judges uniting to give the duo ten across the board for ‘harmony between rider and horse’ which sums the performance up; a picture of pure harmony. Trademark piaffe/passage, tempi changes and pirouettes left the crowd in no doubt that they’d seen something magical. A score of 94.196%, just 0.104% off the world record, was met by rapturous applause.
On to 2010 World Cup Champion Edward Gal who was, on paper, Charlotte’s biggest threat. 84.696% was the score, some 9.5% behind Charlotte…one hand on the trophy. Then it was Steffen’s turn with Legolas and 80.286% was again celebrated by the crowd to give him third. The final competitor was 29 year old Jessica von Bredow-Werndl from Germany with Unee BB who impressed on Thursday. Early mistakes cost them but they settled as the test progressed for a final score of 80.464% for third. So a second consecutive victory was Charlottes, emulating dressage greats like Christine Stuckelberger, Monica Theodorescu, Ulla Salzgeber and Adelinde Cornellissen. However, she’s has a bit to go to match Anky van Grunsven who holds nine titles with two horses!
As the competition ended, the news came through that Steffen Peters had been eliminated at the final tack inspection for blood on the horse’s side. Robert Dover, US Dressage Chef d’Equipe/Technical Advisor, commented; “Sadly Legolas did have a tiny bit of red on one side following his test, the rules are clear and we understand the decision that was made. Steffen is the ultimate sportsman and true ambassador for the sport. When you watch riders, like Steffen, who are so loving and sympathetic to their horses, have something completely unexpected happen, all you can feel is immense empathy and sadness for them.”
Charlotte was presented with a brand new trophy designed by Reem Acra herself to reflect her two passions in life, fashion and horses. In a great sentimental touch, the new award was set on the base of the original 1986 trophy. As well as a generous cheque, Charlotte also had an incredible surprise from Reem Acra, the offer to do her wedding dress!
Afterwards, Charlotte commented; “I’m just living the dream! I don’t think about the pressure, because that’s distracting and things can start to go wrong so I just go in there to do the very best I can do! Valegro just loves his job, I don’t have to force him to do anything, I just sit there and steer and off I go, there’s no sweating, no pushing, no pulling, he knows his job and it’s just fantastic! I don’t go into the ring to do less than a 10, and Valegro lets me do that. If he gets worried I know I can reassure him, he trusts me, but he’s always been a brave horse.”
Full results: click here
See an interview with Carl Hester by the FEI with his take on the Las Vegas experience: click here
Read the BBC report with highlights of Valegro’s freestyle: click here (UK residents only)
Audio interviews with:
Charlotte Dujardin
Edward Gal
Photos: copyright FEI