OCALA, Fla.--Anna Marek on Fayval, who has had wins at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, moved to Ocala to win the Grand Prix at the World Equestrian Center on Friday, Feb. 16.

Anna Marek on Fayval (Photo by Andrew Ryback)Marek scored 70.369% for the win in the Grand Prix for Special CDI3* with the judge’s panel consisting of Jane Weatherwax), Thomas Kessler of Germany, Sandra Hotz, Omar Zayrik of Mexico and Knut Danzberg of Germany.

With 68.152%, Jessica Howington on Serenade MF placed second. and Jodie Kelly-Baxley on Grayton Beach scored a personal best of 67.630% for third place.

While Marek has been riding Fayvel since 2020, she did not start competing him until September of 2023 when his owner, Christina Davila was injured.

Davila had competed Fayvel  at the amateur grand prix level consistently, and Davila wanted to see what Fayvel could do ridden by Marek.

They was immediately successful and with first, second and third place finishes in Grand Prix Freestyle classes at World Cup qualifying shows, to qualify for the 2024 FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

With that qualification, Marek decided to compete in the Grand Prix Special in Ocala in order to gain valuable Olympic qualification scores.

 

“TODAY, I was really happy with having a clean ride,” said Marek. “There were a few things, just getting to know Fayvel in the ring and especially at this level, that we are trying to clean up and make a little bit better.”

Fayvel has exceeded expectations for Marek and her team and has shown improvement at each competition.

“He is very energetic, and he's quite easy to ride through the movements,” said Marek of the 14-year-old KWPN gelding. “I don’t want to say riding through a clean test is easy because dressage is very hard, but he is the type of horse that doesn't really have anything else in his mind other than doing what I want. He has no baggage.”

Marek and Fayvel will contest the Grand Prix Special CDI3* on Saturday.

Julio Mendoza Loor of Ecuador on Jewel’s Goldstrike had his second win of the week in the Grand Prix Freestyle CDI3* with a score of  78.535%.

Going in the freestyle for the first time since October when he won at the 2023 Pan American Games, Mendoza Loor could feel “Goldie” tense up.

“We tried to settle down, but it wasn’t enough time to bring him back to me,” said Mendoza Loor. “When I asked for the passage when the music started, he got a little bit shaky. We made a mistake in the line of two-tempis. I was a little bit all over the place today, but you have to get back in the ring and he had to feel the music."

"This is a horse who always tries,” he said of the 13-year-old KWPN gelding. “With every mistake that happens, you’re learning. The highlights today were the pirouettes in the canter and my line of one-tempis into the pirouette.”

Mendoza Loor has used the same music for his freestyle for two years, and he plans to keep it the same for the Olympic Games this summer.

While this test had the same choreography as his winning Pan American Games ride, Mendoza Loor will change up the choreography for Paris and add difficulty.