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The Dutch Master, Parzival, Reigns Supreme for Cornelissen in Lyon

Two-time series champions, Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival NOP, won the second leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 Western European League at Lyon, France tonight. (FEI/Pierre Costabadie)

Lyon (FRA), 31 October 2014 – The great Dutch master, Jerich Parzival, claimed maximum points for The Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen at the second leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 Western European League in Lyon, France tonight. Belying his 17 years, the big chestnut gelding who carried his rider to a double of series victories in 2011 and 2012 and who was runner-up at the opening leg of the series in Odense, Denmark two weeks ago, produced a lovely performance to post the highest score of 80.300 in the Grand Prix Freestyle. But the Dutch duo, who also claimed team and individual Freestyle bronze at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy two months ago, were closely followed by Germany’s Fabienne Lutkemeier and D’Agostino FRH in runner-up spot while another former FEI World Cup™ Dressage double-champion, Germany’s Ulla Salzgeber, slotted into third with Herzruf’s Erbe.

There were some very bright lights shining tonight, with an eye-catching performance from fourth-placed Danielle Heijkoop and Kingsley Siro for The Netherlands and a strong result for Sweden’s Patrik Kittel partnering the promising 10-year-old mare Deja who finished fifth.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far, however, has been the emergence of Denmark’s Agnete Kirk Thinggaard and the 11-year-old Jojo AZ as a real force to be reckoned with. The pair, who finished fourth in the Dutch Championship earlier this year, lined up sixth in round one at Odense, and they showed that was no fluke when doing exactly the same this evening when, once again, they left some very big names in their wake.

Such is their success-rate of late that they now share the top of the Western European Leaderboard alongside tonight’s winners with a total of 37 points to date.

Sporting ambition

The Danish rider combines her sporting ambition with a great deal of common sense, and the 31-year-old, who has only returned to competition after an eight-year absence while rearing her three young children, set tonight’s first serious target with a mark of 77.400 when last to go before the judging break.

Together, Thinggaard and Jojo AZ presented a Freestyle that was a pleasure to watch, including rock-solid piaffe, seamless transitions and tremendous symmetry with the musical score. Last time out they finished sixth behind Hans Peter Minderhoud and Glock’s Flirt. Tonight the Dutch pair had to settle for ninth place despite some very nice work from the 13-year-old mare.

And Thinggaard remained at the head of affairs until Patrik Kittel threw down a mark of 77.850 with Deja, thanks in no small measure to the Swedish rider’s proficient production of clockwork passage. With three now left to go, Germany’s Salzgeber raised the bar when posting 79.325 with Herzruf’s Erbe, the horse with which she finished third at the Reem Acra Final in Leipzig, Germany in 2011. But she was immediately demoted by Cornelissen and Parzival who bounced through their always-captivating routine and finished with their usual flourish to score 80.300.

Only Lutkemeier and D’Agostino could spoil their party now, and the German pair very nearly succeeded when earning a mark of 80.050 for a lovely test during which the 14-year-old gelding maintained an attractive outline.

Lutkemeier and her horse have enjoyed a great year, following team gold at the FEI European Championships in Herning, Denmark in 2013 with team gold at this summer’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™. And the rider, who was reserve for the London 2012 Olympic Games, particularly enjoyed her success tonight as it came just three days after her 25th birthday. “D’Agostino gave me the best birthday present!” Lutkemeier said. “He was really super. He hadn’t done a Freestyle since last May, at the German Championship, so I’m really happy with how we finished! I rode the Special all the time coming up to Caen, but I always love competing in Freestyle and I was happy with him the whole way through his test today,” she added. She continued, “This is his first show indoors and he was really concentrated, really good in the flying changes and the pirouettes particularly – I’m very, very happy!”

Reflected

Cornelissen, meanwhile, reflected on how things turned out for her over the last few days. It wasn’t completely plain-sailing with Jerich Parzival under the Lyon lights. “I know he is very experienced and really knows his job, but he was quite spooky yesterday in the Grand Prix and not full of confidence. I think the light in the arena was a bit different or something, but he turned into his old Jerich Parzival spooky self yesterday, so today I hoped he would be better and he was – a lot better and much more confident!”

To some extent, however, his renewed confidence created its own problems today. “I could ride forward a lot more, he was going so well I wanted to let him go when he was happy to do it, but as a result I got a bit ahead of my music so that wasn’t perfect,” Cornelissen explained.

She talked about how she keeps this great horse in such good shape at this late stage in his career. “I try to do as much of his work outdoors as I can, on the race-track and in the woods, doing piaffe and passage, that’s how I train him now rather than in the arena, although of course sometimes you have to go in the arena, especially before a competition. He’s top fit at the moment,” she pointed out.

He certainly looked in great form tonight, and well on the road to challenging for his third Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage title when the 2014/2015 Final arrives in Las Vegas, USA in six months’ time.

For further information on the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 leg at Lyon, France, go to website www.equitalyon.com or contact Press Officer Daniel Koroloff, Email daniel@blizko-communications.com, Tel +33 611 021812.

The next leg will take place at Stuttgart, Germany on Saturday 22 November. For details of the German fixture, visit http://stuttgart-german-masters.de or contact Press Officer Joerg Klopfer, Email joerg.klopfer@in.stuttgart.de or Tel +49 7119 5543128.

Detailed result here.

Facts and Figures:

Lyon, France presented the second leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 Western European League tonight.

The League takes place over 9 competitions, and the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 Final will take place at Las Vegas, USA from 15-19 April 2015.

Tonight’s winners were The Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival.

The judges for tonight’s competition were: At E, Ghislain Fouarge NED; At H, Christof Umbach LUX; At C, Isabelle Judet FRA; At M, Stephen Clarke GBR; At B, Katrina Wuest GER.

Yesterday’s preliminary Grand Prix was also won by Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival who scored a back-to-back double of Reem Acra victories in 2011 and 2012.

Tonight’s winning horse, Jerich Parzival NOP, was the oldest in the competition at the age of 17.

The youngest horse was the 10-year-old Swedish-bred mare, Deja, ridden by Sweden’s Patrik Kittel into fifth place.

Third-placed Ulla Salzgeber is a two-time FEI World Cup™ Dressage champion. Partnering the great Rusty, she came out on top at Aarhus in Denmark in 2001 and at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands in 2002.

Quotes:

Adelinde Cornelissen NED, talking about her plans for Jerich Parzival: “My next plan is to do Stockholm at the end of November and then give him a bit of a break in December and January – to break the winter season in two – and see how he is then.”

Fabienne Lutkemeier GER: “It was a great pleasure to be part of the (world championship winning) team in Caen, and it has been a wonderful 12 months for me, Aachen was great this summer too. My next target is the Reem Acra leg in Stuttgart in three weeks’ time.”

Full standings here.

FEI YouTube: http://youtu.be/W1ax_909XS0

Reem Acra FEI Hub http://fei.org/fei/sponsors/reem-acra-and-fei gives access to extensive information about the series.

FEI World Cup™ Dressage, the only worldwide series in this discipline, is now in its 29th season. The series, created in 1985, comprises four leagues: Western European, Central European, North American (including Canada) and Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Asia). Each FEI World Cup™ Dressage qualifier consists of a Grand Prix test, which in turn is a qualification for the Freestyle to Music competition, where league points are accumulated towards places in the Final. Judged on both technical and artistic merit, the FEI World Cup™ Dressage combines art, sport and partnership between horse and rider at the highest level and consistently proves a winning formula with audiences all over the world.

By Louise Parkes

Media Contacts:

At Lyon:

Daniel Koroloff
Press Officer
daniel@blizko-communications.com
+33 611 021812

At FEI:

Grania Willis
Director Press Relations
Email: grania.willis@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 142

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Media Relations
Email: malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 133

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