For Immediate Release
Deirdre Sullivan for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Wellington, FL – February 28, 2019 – Week 8 of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF), The Palm Beach Derby, kicked off today with top CDI-W and CDI3* dressage competition. AGDF runs for 12 weeks through March 31, featuring national and international dressage competition.
Laura Graves and Verdades in their winning ride. ©SusanStickle.com
Laura Graves (USA) and Verdades returned to AGDF and won the FEI Grand Prix CDI-W presented by Havensafe Farm. The pair earned a score of 80.239% to qualify for the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W presented by Havensafe Farm tomorrow night, where they plan to secure their last qualifying score for the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Finals in April.
“I thought he was relaxed, but I also at the same time maybe warmed him up too much,” said Graves of her 17-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding by Florett AS. “We have this technique we’ve been using where we give him a very short warm-up and just send him in. Sometimes the longer you warm him up he gets tired, and then he gets hotter in his mind, but tired in his body.
“He was very, very clean today. I thought he was very very honest,” continued Graves, who last competed with Verdades at AGDF 3. “I was super happy with my zig-zag. I just remember looking up at one point and how much ground we had covered sideways, and I thought ‘Uh oh, can I do that the other way?’ I pushed, and sure enough he went that far. The canter tour felt really secure, and I’m happy with his relaxation.”
Graves noted of her goal for Friday night, “[It] is our last qualifier for World Cup, so just want to check that off of the list and know that we have a ticket to Sweden.”
Laura Graves in her winning presentation with Judge at C Christof Umbach, Allyn Mann of Adequan®, Mary Anne McPhail of the Palm Beach Derby, Betsey Juliano of Havensafe Farm, and FEI Steward Elisabeth Williams. ©SusanStickle.com
Graves’s FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 teammates, Kasey Perry-Glass and Adrienne Lyle, finished in second and third place respectively. The three riders shared their laps of honor by trotting down the centerline side by side. “We’ve been waiting for this,” Graves shared. “We’ve been planning [that] for weeks and weeks and weeks. The three of us are such good friends that we’ve been hoping for a sweep like that. It was fun to be able to laugh with each other and go down centerline, to have such amazing teammates.”
Perry-Glass and Goerklintgaards Dublet, a 16-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding by Diamond Hit x La Costa and owned by Diane Perry, placed second with a score of 78.630%. In third place was Lyle riding Salvino, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Sandro Hit x Dynastie and owned by Betsy Juliano LLC. They received a score of 74.543%.
Adrienne Lyle and Salvino, Laura Graves and Verdades, and Kasey Perry-Glass and Goerklintgaards Dublet sharing their “lap of honor” down the centerline. ©SusanStickle.com
Earlier in the day, Charlotte Jorst (USA) and Kastels Nintendo, a 16-year-old KWPN gelding by Negro owned by Kastel Denmark, won the FEI Grand Prix CDI3* presented by Peacock Ridge. The pair rode to a score of 71.152%.
Charlotte Jorst and Kastels Nintendo in their winning ride. ©SusanStickle.com
Yvonne Losos De Muniz (DOM) and Foco Loco W, her 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood by Sierappel, took second place with a score of 69.543%.
Third place went to Masano Takahashi (JPN) and Eaton Unitechno, a 10-year-old KWPN gelding by Wynton owned by Unitechno, Inc. The pair earned a score of 68.739%.
Charlotte Jorst in her winning presentation with Allyn Mann of Adequan®, Judge Evi Eisenhardt, and Cora Causemann of Equestrian Sport Productions. ©SusanStickle.com
Competition at Week 8 of AGDF continues on Friday, March 1, and features the “Friday Night Stars” FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W and the final round of the Palm Beach Dressage Derby Exhibition Class, both presented by Havensafe Farm. General admission is free for Friday night, and parking is $10/car. Competition will begin at 7 p.m. Week 8 of the AGDF runs through Sunday, March 3. For more information and to see a full list of results, please visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.
Final Results: FEI Grand Prix CDIW Presented by Havensafe Farm
Place, Rider, Nationality, Horse, Horse Information: Judge E% – Martin van der Heijden, Judge H% – Henning Lehrmann, Judge C% – Christof Umbach, Judge M% – Irina Maknami, Judge B% – Cesar Torrente, Total %
1.Laura Graves (USA), Verdades, 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Florett AS x Liwilarda owned by Laura Graves: 78.261%, 79.783%, 81.413%, 81.196%, 80.543%, 80.239%
2.Kasey Perry-Glass (USA), Goerklintgaards Dublet, 16-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding by Diamond Hit x La Costa and owned by Diane Perry: 76.630%, 79.022%, 81.413%, 78.804%, 77.283%, 78.630%
3.Adrienne Lyle (USA), Salvino, 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Sandro Hit x Dynastie and owned by Betsy Juliano LLC: 71.739%, 72.500%, 78.696%, 75.978%, 73.804%, 74.543%
4.Shelly Francis (USA), Danilo, 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding by DeNiro x Annabella owned by Patricia Stempel: 73.913%, 74.130%, 75.652%, 73.587%, 73.043, 74.065%
5.Yvonne Losos De Muniz (DOM), Aquamarijn, 14-year-old KWPN mare by United x Toermalijn owned by Yvonne Losos De Muniz: 69.891%, 69.674%, 69.130%, 70.652%, 69.783%, 69.826%
6.P.J. Rizvi (USA), Breaking Dawn, 18-year-old KWPN gelding by Akribori x Eveline owned by P.J. Rizvi: 65.109%, 69.565%, 70.326%, 71.739%, 69.130%, 69.174%
7.Lindsay Kellock (CAN), Sebastien, 13-year-old Rheinlander gelding by Sandro Hit x Feirie Dame owned by Enterprise Farms LLC: 69.130%, 67.500%, 69.674%, 70.000%, 68.261%, 68.913%
8.Jacqueline Brooks (CAN), Westwood 5, 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Wolkenstein II x Lindenbluete owned by Stone Hill Equestrian Ltd.: 66.087%, 66.630%, 65.326%, 67.174%, 66.304%, 66.304%