For Immediate Release
Amanda Picciotto Feitosa for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Wellington, FL – March 5, 2022 – In an already thrilling week 8 of the 2022 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL, Saturday’s competition continued to deliver high-quality sport. Alice Tarjan (USA) and her own Serenade MF put the exclamation mark on the day, donning the blue ribbon sash for the Grand Prix Special CSI4*, presented by Mission Control. AGDF 8 concludes on Sunday, March 6, while the circuit continues through March 27.
From the 14 starting combinations, Saturday’s winning presentation mirrored that of Thursday’s qualifier, but all top three competitors improved upon their scores. Canada’s Naïma Moreira Laliberté entered the stadium with KML Inc’s Statesman, a 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Sandro Hit x Brentano II, for a lovely test scoring 70.851% to finish in third place. Last to go was Benjamin Ebeling (USA) and Indeed. Ebeling continued his successful week, guiding Vantage Equestrian Group II LLC’s 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Hofrat x De Niro) to a second-place finish with a score of 71.276%.
None could match Alice Tarjan, however, who laid down a beautiful test for a 73.149% to resoundingly lead the way with Serenade MF, a nine-year-old American Hanoverian mare by Sir Donnerhall I x Don Principe that Tarjan purchased as a foal and has brought along herself.
“I’m happy, but I’m also kind of surprised,” admitted Tarjan. “You know the horse has the ability to do it, but you don’t expect her to do it so soon maybe.”
Serenade MF was the youngest horse in the class, and this week marked the mare’s first CDI competition. While she has an obvious talent for the movements, her even-keeled character has been her strongest asset.
“The horse is the most reliable of all the horses I have. She goes in and does the job every time, and she’s so honest,” continued Tarjan. “She has the ability to do all the movements pretty well too. The pirouettes and the piaffe are good, and she has a nice trot and canter to start with.”
On Thursday, Tarjan was tempered in her excitement about the day’s success noting that everything is a work in progress. Today, she explained that is actually what she enjoys most.
She said, “I just love training the horses and riding them. I go home and try to build on what we have here. I’m really happy with how she showed here. It’s probably the best show that the horse has had. It’s getting better every time out, and you learn something.”
Tarjan’s other two grand prix mounts in Donatella M and Candescent are by comparison more complicated and hotter rides. Serenade MF is unaffected by the environment, which Tarjan feels the benefits of in her tests.
“[Serenade MF] is just so consistent. She’s so low key!” laughed Tarjan. “She couldn’t care less and is so easy. I would bring that horse anywhere in the world.”
In the FEI Intermediate A CDI2* class, Switzerland’s Barbara Bertschinger rode to a new personal best on Sonnenberg’s Solisco CH, a 14-year-old Swiss Warmblood by Sancisco OLD x Brentano II. Bertschinger’s consistent performance from start to finish with the gelding she both bred and owns earned a score of 67.765%. That is the second personal best for this pair in as many weeks, improving on last week’s second place finish in the FEI Intermediate A CDI3* class with a score of 65.323%.
Of the 15 starters in the FEI Intermediate I CDI1* class, Pablo Gómez Molina (ESP) set the tone, leading off with a score of 70.088% aboard Cristina Danguillecourt and Yeguada de Ymas S.L.’s Baltasar de Ymas. Gomez Molina and the eight-year-old CDE gelding by Vitalis x Superior II made an impression in the half passes and extended canter, picking up 8s from each of the judges.
Gómez Molina sat atop the leaderboard until Jessica Jo Tate (USA) guided Ilene Boorman’s Romeo to a personal best to come away with the win. Romeo, a 10-year-old American Oldenburg gelding by Harmony’s Rousseau x Opus, had an overall strong performance, highlighted by the pirouettes and the trot tour for an overall score of 70.412%. Katrina Sadis (USA) rounded out the top three with her 10-year-old Oldenburg mare Belloona by Belissimo M x Wolkenstein II, finishing with a score of 67.118%.
Tomorrow’s competition features the future equine super stars as they compete in the Summit Farm Prix St. Georges Future Challenge and the Lövsta Future Challenge developing classes to conclude an exciting week. AGDF picks back up March 10 for CPEDI3* and national competition.
Results: FEI Grand Prix Special CDI4*, presented by Mission Control
Place, rider, nationality, horse, horse information: judge E%, judge H%, judge C%, judge M%, judge B%, final score
E, Michael Osinski (USA); H, Kari McClain (USA); C, Katrina Wüst (GER); M, Elisabeth Max-Theurer (AUT); B, Christof Umbach (LUX)
1. Alice Tarjan (USA) on Serenade MF, her own 9yo American Hanoverian mare by Sir Donnerhall I: 74.574, 75.106, 71.170, 72.979, 71.915, 73.149
2. Benjamin Ebeling (USA) on Indeed, Vantage Equestrian Group II LLC’s 14yo Dutch Warmblood mare by Hofrat: 71.064, 70.957, 72.872, 68.936, 72.553, 71.276
3. Naïma Moreira Laliberté (CAN) on Statesman, KML Inc’s 15yo Hanoverian gelding by Sandro Hit: 70.213, 70.426, 70.319, 71.064, 72.234, 70.851
4. Katie Duerrhammer (USA) on Paxton, Kylee Lourie’s 11yo Westphalian gelding by Dante Weltino OLD: 67.128, 70.638, 67.021, 67.553, 70.426, 68.553
5. Sarah Tubman (USA) on First Apple, Summit Farm’s 12yo KWPN stallion by Vivaldi: 69.149, 68.723, 66.064, 66.064, 70.319, 68.064
6. Laurence Vanommeslaghe (BEL) on Havalon, her own 15yo Hanoverian gelding by Bue Hors Hotline: 68.511, 65.426, 68.085, 67.872, 68.723, 67.723
7. Kiichi Harada (JPN) on Sir Galanto, Chiemi Katayama’s 17yo Hanoverian gelding by Stedinger: 65.213, 67.979, 65.638, 66.702, 66.809, 66.468
8. Michael Klimke (GER) on Harmony’s Sanrino RHP, Harmony Amateur Sports Foundation 13yo Oldenburg stallion by San Remo OLD: 66.702, 68.404, 64.787, 64.681, 64.149, 65.745
9. Aaron Janicki (USA) on Heron, his own 10yo KWPN gelding by Glock’s Johnson TN: 67.128, 66.170, 62.872, 60.106, 66.383, 64.532
10. Gloriana Herrera (CRC) on Vampiro De Pereto, Lucas Gil and her own 15yo PRE stallion by Cafe III: 63.404, 65.532, 64.255, 62.979, 62.553, 63.745
11. Mikala Münter (USA) on Skyfall, her own 14yo Oldenburg gelding by Zardin Firfod: 62.553, 65.532, 64.043, 61.702, 64.255, 63.617
12. Virginia Yarur (CHI) on Ronaldo, Ana María Echeverría Ligueros and her own 16yo Dutch Waarmblood gelding by Blue Hors Romanov: 61.915, 61.064, 62.766, 60.957, 62.766, 61.894i
13. Katherine Bateson Chandler (USA) on Haute Couture, Jennifer Huber and her own 10yo KWPN mare by Connaisseur:, 61.809, 65.213, 60.638, 58.723, 62.234, 61.723