WELLINGTON, Fla.--Frederic Wandres on Verrenberg scored 76.24% to win the World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle on March 13 at the Global Dressage Festival.

Frederic Wandres on Verrenberg (Photo by Centre Line Media)But for Kevin Freeman on Dünensee, who placed second on 75.715%, it was a major win, too, as it qualified him for the FEI World Cup in April.

Spain’s Pablo Gómez Molina on Ulises de Ymas placed third.

Wandres gave much of the credit for his personal-best performance on Verrenberg to his fiancée, Lars Ligus, who rode the 10-year-old gelding for several weeks while Wandres was in Germany, with Wandres only returning to Florida at the start of Week 10. 

“He’s a really promising horse,” said Wandres, who was on the German Olympic gold medal-winning team in Paris with Bluetooth OLD. “Of course, there’s a lot to improve, and Verrenberg is a bit green here and there, but he has everything. He’s very consistent in the arena to bring these good results already at this young age, which is not so normal.

“I was wondering whether we should do the three-star or the World Cup freestyle this week, but we so love the Friday nights under the lights, so the decision was made. It’s so special for us here,” said Wandres,. “This is Verrenberg’s fifth CDI and he becomes better and better. I think the future looks promising for him.”

 

KOHMANN needed to finish as the top North American rider in the class, and he also needed to score more than 73.85%.

Kevin Freeman on Dunensee. (Photo by Centre Line Media)Once his score of 75.715% was announced, he had an anxious wait to see if Ashley Holzer would beat him.

With a few mistakes, Holzer on Hawtins San Floriana finished fourth with 73.555%.

Only then could Kohmann celebrate his remarkable achievement of becoming the second U.S. rider this century to qualify for three straight FEI World Cup Finals on the same horse—also achieved by Laura Graves and Verdades.

Kohmann, Christian Simonson on Indian Rock and Canada's  Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu on Jaccardo, are the three qualified from the FEI World Cup North American League.

“I was standing on the side very nervous because when you have a rider like Ashley at the end, she could easily have beaten me,” said Kohmann. “We got lucky today. ‘Dunee’ felt amazing. For the mistake in the two-tempis, I put the blame on the rider, but in the rest, he gave me everything.

“This guy still feels like he’s 8 years old,” he said. “This horse has such a big heart. He made my career; he changed everything. If you’d told me four years ago that we’d make it to the World Cup™ Finals three times in a row, I’d have told you you were crazy. This is incredible and I’m stunned.”

The freestyle class doubled as a qualifier for the US Equestrian Open of Dressage series, now in its second season.

This year, it features 24 qualifiers—seven of which are at AGDF—before the final in California in November. Click here for the live standings.

In the final qualifier in the Future Challenge Intermediate II series, Dawn White-O’Connor on Leon qualified for the Week 11 final with a winning score of 67%  from the field of seven.

Ashley Holzer on Derek scored 65.853% to place second, though they had already qualified earlier in the season.

The qualification for the final passed down to third-placed Eline Eckroth, who rode , Key To Be Fabulous, to 65.088%.

The series is designed to give up-and-coming big tour horses from eight to 11 years old exposure to the atmosphere of a championship show without some of the added pressures, such as stabling away from home for multiple days.

The grand final is set to take place on Friday, March 20.