WELLINGTON, Fla.--Olympic silver medalist Adrienne Lyle on Salvino scored a new career high of 85.58% to win the Grand Prix Freestyle CDI4* on the final “Friday Night Stars” of the Global Dressage Festival.
Adrienne Lyle on Salvino (Photo by Sportfot)It was the highest score ever recorded in the history of the Festival, with the previous highest of 84.975% having been set by Laura Graves on Verdades in March 2018.
This score came just a day after Lyle and Salvino posted the highest Grand Prix score by any American combination since last year’s Olympic Games.
In second place was another stallion and another personal best: Sarah Tubman rode First Apple to score 78.205%, and Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu and All In, who represented Canada in Tokyo, was third with 77.01%.
“It was hands down the best feeling I’ve ever had in the ring in my life," said Lyle. "Salvino just feels unbelievable. This is such a fun place to show. The crowd’s amazing and enthusiastic. The competition was super tonight; it was a magical evening.”
TO THE STRAINS of Bruce Springsteen, who personally approved the use of his music, Lyle executed a fault-free test brimming with power and harmony including a curving line of 17 clean one-time changes.
It was the first time they had ever run through the updated version of their freestyle music, which was put together by Terri Gallo, having tweaked it since they last performed it in Aachen in July 2019.
“Salvino had a rest after Tokyo, and he’s back, and he truly feels better than ever,"said Lyle. "To end on this high note here for our Wellington season is really wonderful. We’re hoping to head to Europe and do a selection show there with our sights set on trying to qualify for the team for the World Championships in Denmark in August, which would be our big goal. He’s proven that he doesn’t need to go a whole lot. He’s always there when we want him to be, so we’ll respect that of him.”
“That’s an amazing feeling,” said the 33-year-old Tubman, who rode First Apple to individual gold and team silver medals with the U.S. Dressage team at the 2019 Pan American Games. “I haven’t shown at that many other places, but this is pretty addicting, and it’s really fun. We all work really hard, so it’s so cool to have the crowd help you, and to be on the podium with two Olympians.
“This is my second-ever grand prix freestyle, on any horse, so I think I’m going to do some more,” said Tubman. “He really loves the freestyle, and I enjoy it because he feels like he’s having fun in there. My husband Lee and I have been working really hard for the last couple of years with this horse to develop him into the grand prix horse we know he’s going to be, and I’m really happy that this year we’ve taken positive, correct steps forward, with the help of Debbie McDonald as well. This is my first shot at something this big, and it’s a process.”
Fraser-Beaulieu, who is pregnant and due in August, was delighted with her own 17-year-old All In.
“He loves his job, and it seems like the older he gets, the more he loves it,” she said. “He keeps getting hotter, actually, not lazier. But every time he goes into the ring, he tries his best for me, and tonight I really enjoyed my freestyle. I thought in general his piaffe was so much better than it has been in the last few years.
“For once I didn’t have to chase scores, because I will not be going to the World Championships. So, for the first time in a very long time, I enjoyed my horse and did what I wanted to do, so I did way more freestyles,”said Fraser-Beaulieu, who doesn’t have any immediate plans to retire All In after giving birth.
Ecuador’s Julio Cesar Mendoza Loor’s scored apersonal best of 75.465% to win the Grand Prix Freestyle CDI3*.
Christoph Koschel of Germany repeated his placing from the Grand Prix, second again on Favorito 11 with 74.595%, and Hope Cooper finished third with Hot Chocolate W, scoring 71.400%.
“After I won the Grand Prix yesterday, I said to my wife, ‘Can you pinch me, because I want to know if that was a dream," said Mendoza. "That was a beautiful ride yesterday, and today a couple mistakes in the one-tempis and the two-tempis and my third pirouette, but he is an amazing horse. For how young he is, his third time doing the grand prix, his second time doing a freestyle, he is one of a kind. He wants to work, to be there for me.”
The Netherlands’ Luuk Mourits won the Prix St. Georges CDI3* on Harmony’s Sarotti OLD, scoring 71.147%.
Katrina Sadis on Belloona was second with 67.706%, with Susan Jaccoma finishing third with a 65% on Dinozzo Nexen.
The top two combinations in the CDI1* FEI Prix St. Georges both posted personal bests.
Naïma Moreira Laliberté of Canada smashed her previous best of 66% with Inspire, scoring 70.588% and Sweden’s Christina Devine’s new career high of 69.235% with Slæbækgård’s Santino was second, while Spain’s Pablo Gómez Molina riding Baltasar De Ymas to 68.529% was third.
