No fewer than three six-year-old horses presented by three elegant lady riders achieved average scores above 90% in Ermelo today during the qualifier. A remarkable result.

DWB stallion Hesselhøj Down Town (Hesselhøj Donkey Boy x Blue Hors Zack, breeder Dorthe and Hans Jørgen Hoeck) shown by Sweden's Jeanna Hogberg Dorthe and owned by Helgstrand Dressage topped the three with 9.48, the first step in defending their 2021 five-year-old title.

The impressive, long and rangy KWPN stallion Las Vegas (Ferdeaux x Wynton, breeder J. Deenen) placed second with 9.42. Las Vegas was ridden by Dutch young mother Emmelie Scholtens and is owned by her father in law Nico Witte together with Nol Gerritsen.

A score of 9.40 was sufficient for third place by the Oldenburg-bred stallion Global Player OLD (Grand Galaxy Win T x Blue Hors Don Schufro, breeder Henrik Hansen). He was perfectly shown by German Eva Möller on behalf of owners Helgstrand/Schockemöhle.

According to judge Eddy de Wolff van Westerrode; "The quality in this group of 42 competitors was impressive. Today I already rewarded one 10 for the canter of Las Vegas, however anything can happen in the final as the top group is of very high quality and extremely close."

Jeanna Hogberg praised her powerhouse Hesselhøj Down Town by saying; “He's fantastic. It’s like he grows 10 centimeters as soon as he enters the arena. All his gaits are great. I cannot find any shortcomings, he has none. And even more, he's the sweetest horse ever. He means so much to me and I am so happy to be able to train and show him."

Claartje van Andel