Fry in Front in Riyadh Dressage Final

Charlotte Fry of Great Britain and Everdale took the top honours on the first day of competition at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final at Riyadh on Wednesday.

Her score of 75.388 percent in the Grand Prix won the 2022 World champion and her Dutch Warmblood partner the victory banner at the prize giving, with the Grand Prix Freestyle still to come on Friday.

It was Patrik Kittel of Sweden who finished second with Touchdown, a 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood. He earned a total of 73.292 percent from the seven international judges. Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald ended Day 1 in third place aboard Blue Hors Don Olymbrio on a score of 72.904 percent.

Five-time World Cup champion Isabell Werth of Germany, who switched out mount Emilio for DSP Quantaz at the last minute, landed in fourth place. Her test didn’t go as well as planned, earning the pair 72.236 percent. But she’ll no doubt be a threat in Day 2’s Freestyle, as the most decorated Dressage athlete of all time.

Field was wide open

Seventeen starts from 12 nations lined up on Wednesday for the Grand Prix test at the beautiful new state-of-the-art Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Centre (RICEC). Fans filled the stands and VIP tables to see an array of the world’s best Dressage competitors vie for points to take home the medals.

Without the 2023 champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl of Germany there to defend her title, the field was wide open.

Judges from around the world, stationed at key points alongside the arena, assessed each pair for technical precision and harmony with the horse. With every combo executing the same test, even the tiniest difference could put one athlete ahead of another by fractions of a point.

Skodborg Merrald took an early lead as the third ride of the day. Her marks topped the leaderboard until Kittel, riding 10th, bumped her down a slot.

Fry on fire!

Amidst a flurry of excellent tests to follow, Fry’s was the one that stood out, earning above 78 percent from the judge at F.

The young British champion would love to add a World Cup to her trophy case. But she’ll have to contend with Isabell Werth, and of course Kittel and Skodborg Merrald.

Said the Danish athlete of her first day: “I’m super thrilled being in the top three!”

“It can happen to all of us,” she added ruefully about Werth’s day in the ring, where she just couldn’t achieve the perfection she normally does.

Skodborg Merrald will be debuting new music on the final day of Dressage. She said: “It’s exciting to see how the Freestyle will go on Friday.”

Touchdown on the up

Kittel was equally surprised at how “the Queen” (Werth) fared on Day 1. “I’m sure she’s going to fight for it on Friday.”

The Swede led much of the qualifying series and was elated to see his training with Touchdown peak at the right moment: “I am so proud of him. He has been in such good form all season. Today I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

As much as Kittel would like to have done his Freestyle programme right then and there, he’ll have to wait for Friday.

And he’ll have to worry about some of the best performers from Wednesday’s top eight making a play for gold. Behind Werth in fourth place were two more German powerhouses: Raphael Netz (72.003 percent with Great Escape Camelot) and Matthias Alexander Rath (71.180 percent with Destacado FRH).

Flore de Winne of Belgium ended the day in seventh place (70.575 percent aboard Flynn FRH), and Spain’s Borja Carrascosa grabbed the eighth position (70.062 percent with Sir Hubert NRW).

Words by Patricia Salem | Image by FEI/ Martin Dokoupil

Charlotte Fry (GBR) on Everdale