Dressage Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl is aiming for her first major title after maternity leave at the World Cup finals in Omaha. Isabell Werth once again takes on the role of an outsider.
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl was hugging and cuddling with her darling Dalera after arriving in Omaha. And in line with this, there was also the first announcement to the competition: “Dalera is on fire”, wrote the Olympic champion on Instagram under a video of the two from the training ground. The German dressage queen has her sights firmly set on successfully defending her title at the World Cup finals in the USA.
There is no doubt that there is no way around the 37-year-old and her flagship mare on the way to the title. “Jessica rode two good qualifications, by far and with a high percentage. She’s definitely going to be the favorite in the race,” said national coach Monica Theodorescu to “SID”.
And that’s almost an understatement. In its two World Cup appearances, the dream duo duped the competition, untouchable they piaffeed twice in their comeback after maternity leave in Lyon to victory. The same could flourish in Omaha, because world champion Lottie Fry is not there as the first contender for von Bredow-Werndl’s throne.
Fry stormed spectacularly to World Cup double gold with Glamourdale a year ago – in the absence of “JBW”. Since then, the scene has been longing for a first showdown, but Glamourdale’s owner Gert-Jan van Oolst prevents that. The magnificent stallion has to be used for breeding, the focus of the owner was “never on the World Cup final anyway”. The showdown has been postponed at least until the CHIO in Aachen at the end of June.
And Isabell Werth? Last year, the figurehead of German dressage said goodbye to successful mare Weihegold in a highly emotional manner, the missed fourth win in a row at the World Cup final became a minor matter. Like Weihegold, Bella Rose no longer dances under Werth’s saddle, now the seven-time Olympic champion appears on the dressage arena with Quantaz.
With him, the Rheinberger does not expect a triumph in Nebraska, where she won in 2017. If her stallion “has gained a bit of strength and maybe isn’t quite as explosive,” Werth told SID, she has “a good chance of finishing second or third with him”.
As always, the competition for these podium places is top-class: Dinja van Liere from the Netherlands, third at the World Championships, is there with Hermes, while team Olympic champion Nanna Skoborg Merrald from Denmark is also aiming for the top spots with Zepter.
Ingrid Klimke and Franziskus will probably have nothing to do with the podium. The 54-year-old collected the most World Cup points behind Werth, but she is not a favorite. Klimke, who comes from eventing, is at the dressage final for the first time with the 15-year-old stallion. A triumph would be a big surprise.
In the show jumping final, Germany also has promising chances of winning. Five couples are represented there, first and foremost Daniel Deusser. The former World Cup champion was in good form at the show jumping in Wellington, USA, as was Richard Vogel. Aachen winner Gerrit Nieberg, three-time World Cup winner Marcus Ehning and Janne-Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann will also be there alongside Vogel and Deusser.
But the show jumping is also strong: double world champion Henrik von Eckermann from Sweden will have a say in the victory, as will the local hero McLain Ward, who is in good form, and the super-fast Frenchman Julien Epaillard.