Tuesday, May 22 2012 / Published in Show World, Z-Blogs

David Marcus Dominates CDI Dressage Canada Classic

Equestrian Athlete Takes One More Step on the Road to the 2012 London Olympics Burlington, Ontario – David Marcus, 31, of Campbellville, ON, took another step on the road to the 2012 London Olympics, winning both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special at the CDI3* Canada Classic, an international dressage competition held May 18-20 in Burlington, ON. David Marcus riding Chrevi’s Capital won the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special at the CDI3* Canada Classic held May 18-20 in Burlington, Ontario. (Photo by Sue Stickle) Having only received his Canadian citizenship in December, Marcus scored his first international grand prix victory with a win in Friday’s Grand Prix at the CDI3* Canada Classic. Riding Chrevi’s Capital, owned by Deborah Kinzinger, Marcus earned a score of 68.681%. The final ride of the day belonged to 2008 Canadian Olympian Jacqueline Brooks aboard D-Niro, but her score of 68.234% was not enough to knock Marcus out of top spot. 2011 Pan American Games Team Gold Medalist, Cesar Parra of the United States, scored 67.213% with Van the Man to place third while Marcus also took fourth, earning a score of 66.447% with Don Kontes, also owned by Kinzinger. “Chrevi’s Capital had a personal best score of over 68%, even with a few significant mistakes,” said Marcus, referring to his Grand Prix test on Friday. “The mistakes were not in the difficult movements, but in the extended trot, which is usually a strong movement for him, in the passage to canter transition, and then I made a rider error on the placement of my second canter pirouette, which was very costly for me. Those are all things that are usually quite strong for him so, going into Saturday, I knew they were easy mistakes to fix. To still earn over 68%, even with those mistakes, was pretty great!” In Saturday’s Grand Prix Special, Marcus widened the gap between himself and the competition, posting a career-best score of 72.356% to win over Brooks who earned 69.578%. All five international judges awarded Marcus a score of over 70 percent, giving him not only the highest score of his grand prix career, but also one of the highest scores obtained by any Canadian dressage competitor in the 2012 Olympic qualifying process. “The best way to describe my ride was that it just felt easy,” said Marcus of Saturday’s Grand Prix Special performance with Chrevi’s Capital. “He was on my aids and I was basically guiding him around; it was so simple. He really wanted to be there for me, and it all felt very easy. We were able to clean up our mistakes from Friday, and the judges rewarded us for it.” Even more impressive, his mount, Chrevi’s Capital, a 12-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding (Chrevi’s Lavallo x Weinberg), only began competing at the Olympic level of grand prix in January. “I am ecstatic!” said Marcus of his horse’s aptitude and growth at the top level of the sport. “He is only five and a half months into his grand prix career, and he has already moved up 10 percentage points in his scores from his grand prix debut to this competition. He still wasn’t at full capacity, and I know there is so much more potential in there. I am excited to see where he can go!” Previously ranked fifth overall in the race for a spot on the 2012 Canadian Olympic Dressage Team, Marcus expects to move into third place once the scores from the CDI3* Canada Classic are calculated. The Canadian Dressage Team will take four horse-rider combinations to the 2012 Olympic Games where three will compete while the fourth acts as the alternate