Felicitas Hendricks’ Disco Music Tops the Charts in First Friday Night Stars of 2025 AGDF
Felicitas Hendricks & Drombusch OLD. Photo ©susanjstickle.com
The first ‘Friday Night Stars’ evening of freestyle competition at the 2025 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL brought impressive performances and scores in the FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix Freestyle, sponsored Palm Beach Equine Clinic.
On an unusually cold evening during Lloyd Landkamer Memorial week, Germany’s Felicitas Hendricks rode her own 14-year-old Drombusch OLD (Destano x Dimaggio) to a 78.2% victory as the last rider to go. The class was also a qualifier for the new US Equestrian Open of Dressage, which features 23 qualifiers — seven of which are at AGDF — before the final in California in November.
US Olympic team silver medalist Adrienne Lyle finished second with a 77.28% performance on Helix, reversing the placings from Thursday’s qualifying Grand Prix. Sweden’s seven-time Olympian Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén and Devanto’s 75.515% score secured third place.
Hendrix, who at 24 years old is still eligible to ride in under-25 classes, has returned to AGDF as a senior for the second year running after finishing as the top rider at AGDF 2024. Her test showed harmonious self-carriage coupled with power and balance and featured 20 one-time changes down the centerline.
“He exceeded my expectations, like he does every time,” said Hendrix, whose groom Yannick Schmitz was awarded a check for $500, courtesy of the Lövsta Future Challenge. “He leaves his heart in the ring. I can tell that he’s very happy to be back and he was loving the crowd. He was a little spicy, but in a good way.”
Spanish Depth on Show
In Friday’s daytime CDI1* FEI Intermediate I, sponsored by Harmony Sporthorses, Spanish riders filled two of the top three spots. Pablo Gómez Molina steered the internationally inexperienced Farinel Di Fonteabeti (Kastel’s Grand Galaxy Win x Fidertanz) to the blue ribbon with 72.383%, getting the nod from all five judges. Kevin Kohmann and Diamante Farms’ 10-year-old mare Scala — winners of Thursday’s Prix St. Georges class — slotted into second place with 70.353%.
Juan Francisco Fernandez Muñoz rode his own and Precision Andalusian Stables’ Doppelkorn to third with 67.412%, marking the pair’s second personal best of AGDF1. At eight years old, the Don Index gelding was the youngest in the class. This was his second senior CDI and his first outside Europe, and Fernandez Muñoz is making his AGDF debut this season.
Gómez Molina has owned the nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding since spotting him in Italy as a three-year-old. The pair clinched victory from final draw.
“It’s always nice to win and especially to start the season like this, but this one actually feels a bit different because Farinel is my own horse and he’s really talented and clever,” said Gómez Molina. “Yesterday in the Prix St. Georges, we tested what we could do better and then went for it today, and the score reflects that.
“I think I have more success with the horses I’ve been training since they are young ones, because over the years you learn more about how much you can push and when you need to be a little quieter. I can trust him a lot and that gives you a lot of confidence as a rider.”
by Alice Collins
Wellington International
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