Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro. File Photo. © Ilse Schwarz/dressage-news.com
Aug. 4, 2015
Heading into the European Championships, Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro round out 24 straight months at world No. 1, according to the latest International Equestrian Federation (FEI) rankings released Tuesday, while three of Germany’s team members are in the top 10.
Charlotte and the KWPN gelding, have been firmly atop the world rankings for the past two years after swapping the top slot a couple of times with the Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parival after the 2012 Olympic Games where the British rider, who turned 30 years of age last month, won both team and individual gold.
In the past two years, Charlotte and the 13-year-old Valegro have won individual gold medals at the Wold Games and the Europeans as well as two World Cup titles, setting world records at all three levels.
Germany’s Kristina Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH cemented their status as the top German combination at No. 3 in the latest rankings to the end of July while Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Unee BB moved up to No. 5 and Isabell Werth and Don Johnson FRH moved into the ninth slot from 11th the previous month.
Totilas, the 15-year-old KWPN stallion ridden by Matthias Alexander Rath that was also named to the German team was ranked 428th in the world based on the only two results–at the Nations Cup in Hagen in July–that were the only performances to count for the ranking period that goes back one year. The pair placed first in both the Grand Prix and the Special with scores above 80 per cent.
Great Britain’s team members Carl Hester and Nip Tuck moved to No. 18 in the world while Fiona Bigwood and Atterupgaards Orthilia, making their first championship appearance, jumped 65 places to 32nd and Michael Eilberg on Marakov was 59th.
For the Netherlands, Edward Gal and Glock’s Undercover remained at No. 2, Hans Peter Minderhoud on Glock’s Flirt was at No. 13 and on Glock’s Johnson TN at 16th with Diederik van Silfhout on Arlando in the 14th position.
With Sweden looking for a high finish to claim one of the three places available at these Europeans for a 2016 Olympic Games team start–Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands have already qualified–Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén and Don Auriello go into the championships ranked sixth with team mate Patrik Kittel on Deja at No. 12.
The United States’ Steffen Peters on Legolas and Laura Graves on Verdades were again ranked seventh and eighth in the world, taking into account the team and individual gold medal winning performances for Steffen and individual silver for Laura at the Pan American Games last month. That result gave the U.S. a ticket to Rio de Janeiro next year.
Steffen Peters of San Diego, California rounded out the top 25 with the mare Rosamunde, in her first year at Grand Prix at just eight years old.
Top 25 in the FEI World Rankings at the end of July:
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