And Verboomen did it again….
He came, he rode – and he conquered.once again However, it was by the narrowest of margins – a mere three points (or 0.12%) – that European champion Justin Verboomen and his wonderful Zonik Plus triumphed over world champion Charlotte Fry with her magnificent Glamourdale.
Four riders from the world’s top ten had come to the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch for the tenth and final leg of the Western European League World Cup. As expected, and as already seen in the Grand Prix, the victory came down to a duel between the world’s number one and three – the reigning European champion Justin Verboomen from Belgium and the reigning world champion Charlotte Dujardin from Great-Britain.
And in their first encounter since the European Championships in Crozet, the two proved just how exciting and unpredictable dressage can be. Even the Dutch chief judge, Maarten van der Heijden, said after the test, “That was truly world-class sport, and even we as judges couldn’t have predicted who would ultimately take the win.”
Lottie Fry opened the duel with her powerhouse Glamourdale. The 15-year-old black stallion by Lord Leatherdale entered the arena and seemed to promise: ‘Fly me to the moon!’ – acorrding to the music in the canter tour. It’s well known that the stallion celebrates the world’s best extended canter. Indeed, the entire canter tour was a true dressage treat, with fantastic, ground-covering one-tempi changes and beautiful pirouettes (the right pirouettes being noticeably smaller and more rhythmic than the left ones). But even the extended trot seemed as if the stallion wanted to reach for the stars, and the piaffes were significantly better than in the Grand Prix the previous day. Granted, there was a slight snag in the transition from the piaffe pirouette to the walk, but that’s really nitpicking at a very high level. “I had the impression that this was one of the best tests we’ve ever ridden,” Charlotte Fry remarked later. The final result was 89.085% – could that be beaten?
It was possible. But it was a nail-biting finale. Belgium’s superstar Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus entered the arena relaxed – the now 10-year-old black stallion, who had battled the electrifying atmosphere of the completely sold-out Brabanthalle in the Grand Prix, had now ‘arrived’. And once again, one had the impression that this combination had simply wandered into the World Cup arena and had actually intended to go for a ride in the woods. The relaxed horse, its nose always nicely in front of the vertical, Verboomen’s completely calm riding style, always managing with light contact and almost invisible aids – a picture of perfect harmony and complete trust between rider and horse. And they delivered – their truly incredibly difficult freestyle for a ten-year-old horse, with a powerful canter leading into a pirouette, which in turn leads into a piaffe-pirouette, and so on. A small error in the flying changes (which were executed well on the repetition) lowered the score, and in the collected walk, one could sense that Zonik Plus might still have felt a slight lingering tension. But otherwise – a brilliant round. But would it be enough for the win? It was. With 89.205%, Verboomen won ahead of Fry, and the spectators in the Brabant Halls thanked them with a standing ovation.
He won’t be riding in the World Cup Final in Texas in April. “Zonik Plus has never flown – I’d like to spare him that for now,” Verboomen said after the test.
While the duel of the superstars for first place certainly provided a level of excitement that easily overshadowed any jump-off in the show jumping, the other rides shouldn’t be forgotten.
The eventual third place went to the Dutch rider Marike van der Putten with her 12-year-old Oldenburg mare Zantana (by Zonik x Sir Donnerhall). The best Dutch combination delivered a very nice test; however, Zantana stumbled on the diagonal in the trot-passage combination and briefly broke into a canter, but Marike van der Putten immediately regained control. In the piaffe and pirouettes, Zantana showed textbook-perfect collection. 82.175% was an absolutely appropriate result, and one can be sure that there’s more to come.
After a truly solid test with many highlights, Raphael Netz and another black stallion, the 12-year-old Dieudonne (by Dante Weltino x Sir Donnerhall), finished in fourth place with a score of 80.81%. Netz began his freestyle with a passage-piaffe-passage combination and delivered exceptionally well-executed passage-half passes. In the canter tour, one might have wished that Netz had eased off the reins a bit more during the extended canter. The two-tempi changes on a curved line were well executed, and while the transition in the extended canter-pirouette-piaffe-pirouette combination wasn’t entirely smooth, so what?
A brilliant fifth place, and the only rider to also break the 80% mark, went to Switzerland’s Charlotta ‘Kiki’ Rogerson with the 14-year-old KWPN gelding Bonheur de la Vie (by Bordeaux x Blue Hors Zack), who was delighted with a score of 80.270% after a beautiful freestyle performance.
The dressage competition at Indoor Brabant has always been well-attended and had a strong starting field, but now it has reached the pinnacle – with top-class sport, a sold-out arena, a knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience, and simply a fantastic atmosphere. It wouldn’t be presumptuous to say that Den Bosch can now easily compete with the prestigious Frankfurt Festhallenturnier or any championship event, and is even hot on the heels of the legendary Aachen.
The dressage director of Indoor Brabant, Anky van Grunsven, did everything right.