Patrik Kittel Well Done de la Roche CMF- Nations Cup Grand Prix Dressage Highlights
COMPIÈGNE, France, May 30, 2021–Patrik Kittel on Well Done de la Roche won the CDIO5* Grand Prix Freestyle Sunday to lead Sweden to Nations Cup gold with Portugal taking silver and Great Britain bronze after overnight leader Denmark was eliminated. Patrik and Well Done, a 13-year-old Swiss Warmblood mare scored 81.455% in the Freestyle after Juliette Ramel on Buriel K.H. and her sister, Antonia Ramel on Brother de Jeu placed 1st and 3rd, respectively among team competitors in the Grand Prix Special to clinch the Nations Cup. Portugal’s team of Maria Caetano on Fenix de Tineo and Rodrigo Torres on Fogoso Horsecampline in the Special and João Miguel Torrao in the Freestyle earned silver, breaking a tie on points with Great Britain.
This was only the third Nations Cup event for Portugal since the trans-Atlantic series was launched in 2013. Charlotte Fry on Dark Legend was the top scoring combination for Britain with Emile Faurie on Dono di Maggio OLD also in the Special and Louise Anne Bell on Into the Blue in the Freestyle. Carina Cassøe Krüth on Heiline’s Danciera posted a personal best score in the Grand Prix and placed first in the Special but Denmark was eliminated when Cathrine Dufour on Bohemian, the sixth ranked partnership in the world, could not coax the horse into the competition arena for the Special. The United States sent a team to Europe but an adverse test required in advance for equine herpes virus although all horses were fit and showed no symptoms led to the team pulling out for safety’s sake. The Nations Cup here was the second in this year’s trans-Atlantic series.
The first in Wellington, Florida in March was won by Germany. A combination of the coronavirus pandemic and an equine herpes virus outbreak in Europe earlier this year led to cancellation of two of the team events. Only the Rotterdam Nations Cup July 1-4 remains as a team competition before the deadline for entries for the Olympics in Tokyo in less than two months.