Volvo World Cup Freestyle Dressage to Music Winner

Sweden's Louise Nathhorst, to the delight of a huge home crowd packed into Göteborg's Scandinavium Arena, beat the 3-times Dutch title-holder Anky van Grunsven, to take this year's coveted Volvo World Cup Freestyle Dressage to Music (Kür) title riding her Hanoverian-bred, LRF Walk on Top.

Four international judges placed Louise Nathhorst first and one judge placed Anky and Louise equal first in the Kür to Music. This resulted in Louise Nathhorst winning with a total score of 82.76% leaving Anky van Grunsven, the World Cup champion of '95, '96 and '97, in second place with 80.61% with Gestion Bonfire. The scenario could have been written for a fairy-tale— in this last year of Volvo's sponsorship of the series. For it was in the spacious Scandinavium, in Volvo's hometown, that the World Cup series for jumping riders started back in 1979— the dressage came later. Louise Nathhorst and Walk on Top's elegant and eye catching programme, which includes all the classical movements of the discipline, was executed to an entertaining musical arrangement scored by Benny Anderson formerly of Abba— you can't get more Swedish than that can you? Third place went to Germany's Olympic and European champion, Isabell Werth riding Antony FRH, fourth place to amateur rider, Jürgen Wirths (GER) and his fellow countryman, Rudolf Zeilinger, made fifth. Finland’s former World Cup champion, Kyra Kyrklund, finished sixth and The Netherland's gifted 21-year old debutante, Imke Bartels, gained an impressive seventh placing. American Debbie McDonald and Beaurivage finished 12th.