Dressage News Notes Brought to You By Back On Track

 

I start this week's News Notes with a request to support Equestrian Aid Foundation's recipient Tara Celentano by voting to help her win a new Wheelchair van that would allow her the freedom to pursue her equestrian dreams after an accident left her a tetraplegic. In show news, this past weekend saw some brilliant competition at the CDI4* Hagen when Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro broke the world record for the Grand Prix Special by three points! In the same competition, we saw the return of Totilas to his form that we all fell in love with, but were the Freestyle scores a little over inflated? Anky and Salinero have declared their intent to represent Holland at the London Olympic Games but Fuego de Cardenas came out ahead at the CDIO Saumur. Rolex was won by Britain's William Fox-Pitt and a former racehorse and the Run for the Roses goes off this weekend in Lexington, KY on Saturday May 5th!{C}Wow! The show scene has exploded this coming weekend with a large list of competitions all across the country! Starting in the North we have the Dressage at the Bucks County Horse Park I in Revere, PA, the Once Again Farm Dressage Series I in Meridian, CT, and the Dressage at Stanhope in Huntington, NY. Heading to the southeast we have the CDCTA Dressage At Morven Park in Leesburg, VA, the Rocking Horse Spring Dressage in Altoona, FL and the May Dressage Concours I and II in Venice, FL. The southwest host the Dressage at the Palace I and II in San Antonio, TX and the Oklahoma Dressage Society Spring I and II in Tulsa, OK. The midwest host several shows beginning with the Sorensen Park Dressage May I in East Troy, WI, the Majestic Farm Ride For The Roses I and II in Batavia, OH, Carousel Connection I and II in Springfield, IL, the May Flower I and II Dressage Show in Wheeler, WI and the Kansas City Dressage Society Dressage at Longview I and II in Kansas City, MO. We round out this weekends shows on the west coast with the Whidbey Equestrian Center Spring Dressage in Coupeville, WA, the Shasta CDS Spring Show in Cottonwood, CA, Dressage at Hossmoor Spring in Martinez, CA, Galway Downs Dressage in Temecula, CA, Dressage at Mission Pacific in Somis, CA and the Dressage in the Almonds May in Lodi, CA.

I would love everyone reading this weeks News Notes to take a moment and help out an inspiring equestrian - Equestrian Aid Foundation recipient Tara Celentano. Tara was injured when a young horse jumped on her back and broke her neck which left her a tetraplegic. She still stays inspired to remain in the world of horses and has a strong desire to teach and judge. Tara is currently in the running to win a new custom wheelchair van as part of National Mobility Month which would allow her the freedom to prusue her dreams. Read here on how you can vote to help Tara win the van!

The CDI4* Hagen at Hof Kasselmann saw the World Record for the Grand Prix Special tumble with an absolutley outstanding ride from Charlotte Dujardin and the gorgeous Valegro which earned the pair an 88.022%. This score broke the previous record by three percent! It is hard, after all her success, to believe that Charlotte rode in her first Grand Prix competition barley 15 months ago! Read the full story at thisissomerset.com and watch the video here!

More big (maybe too big?) scores kept coming from Hagen in Sunday's Grand Prix Freestyle! After the Grand Prix, it was clear the Totilas seems back on track to his former brilliance although there is much controversy about the warm up photos displaying hyper flexion. In the Freestyle, Totilas showed his trade mark moves but with a low degree of technical difficulty. The judges loved it however and awarded a score of 88.025% followed by Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris with an 87.600%. One thing for sure - the Olympics is going to be a blast! Check out the detailed story at Eurodressage.com!

Anky announced that she is aiming for London this summer with her two time Olympic partner Salinero. Anky brought out Salinero at his first outdoor competition at the CDIO Saumur. While there were nice elements in the test, there were also many mistakes which held his score to 73.681%. However, one of the highlights of the CDIO was Spain's Juan Manual Munoz Diaz and the PRE stallion Fuego de Cardenas who had the winning ride with a fault free, relaxed test that is their first since August 2011. The pair scored a 74.021% and they look well rested for the upcoming Olympic Season. Check out the rest of the story from the CDIO Samur!

Well the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is over and Britain's William Fox-Pitt reigned supreme riding Parklane Hawk. What makes this interesting is that Parklane Hawk is a New Zealand former racehorse! Formerly known as Park Lane, the now 11-year-old had 19 starts including 6 over hurdles and steeplechase fences. In total, 21 former race horses started at the prestigious 4 star event! Read more here!

Last but not least is this Saturday's Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in Lexington, KY for the 138th Kentucky Derby! At the heart of the day is the first leg of the Triple Crown where the last winner was Affirmed in 1978! While the "big boys" will play at the Derby on May 5th, the Ladies will run for glory on May 4th at the Kentucky Oaks which will be aired by the NBC Sports Network with coverage beginning at 4pm and post time at 5:45. The Derby will run Saturday with network coverage starting at 4pm on NBC Sports will post time at 6:24! Lets hope we get a Triple Crown winner and best of luck to all the horses and Be safe! Follow coverage of the Derby here!