By George Williams
The FEI World Cup Final in Omaha is coming up quickly. That means that it’s starting to heat up as the end of the qualifying period for both the Western European League (WEL) and the North American League (NAL) nears. I started to write this column before the Amsterdam CDI-W, and I was using the FEI Ranking List from January 15 as a reference. As I sit down to finish my column, I’m now looking at the results from Amsterdam. While the list of the top contenders for the WEL hasn’t changed, they’re definitely moving around on the ranking list. The WEL has three more legs, as they’re referred to: Neumünster February 16–19, Goteborg February 23–26, and ’s-Hertogenbosch March 9–12, and they could change things dramatically.
Looking at the top 12 athletes from the WEL as they were ranked on January 15, there are five from Germany, three from the Netherlands and one each from Great Britain, Denmark, France and Sweden. Eight of the top 12 went head-to-head at Amsterdam: Dinja Van Liere on Hermes N.O.P., who won; Isabell Werth and Emilio 107, placing second; and Nanna Skodborg Merrald on Blue Horse Zack, who came in third. By my calculations, the results from Amsterdam will put Isabell into the lead. If you are following the ranking lists, you have to keep in mind that only three athletes are allowed per country.
This makes it difficult for the Germans. They already have one athlete taking a spot with the 2022 title defender Jessica Von Bredow-Werndl on the wonderful mare Tsf Dalera. That leaves a possibility of only two more German athletes being invited to the Finals. I’m putting my money on Isabell Werth with Emilio 107 being one, but who might be the third? It could be her fellow teammate from the 2022 World Championships in Herning and brother of the title defender, Benjamin Werndl, or perhaps Ingrid Klimke with Franziskus FRH. Others I think we will see in Omaha include Patrik Kittel with Touchdown, Thamar Zweistra with Hexagon’s Double Dutch, possibly Emmelie Scholtens with Desperado N.O.P as well as Dinja Van Liere and Nanna Skodborg Merrald with their horses from Amsterdam.
For the Western and Central European Leagues, the four best results count, which means they can earn a maximum of 80 points. In the case of the NAL, the three best results count for a maximum of 60 points.
Looking at the NAL, as of this writing, Steffen Peters is sitting with the maximum number of 60 points. Following him are Alice Tarjan (57), Sarah Tubman (52), Anna Buffini (51), Claire Darnell (42) and Adrienne Lyle (40). However, this will probably change as there are two more NAL qualifiers: Wellington CDI-W (February 8–12) and the Palm Beach Derby CDI-W (March 1–5). If points are tied in the NAL, the rule clearly states that “Ties in overall point totals at the end of the qualifying season will be broken by the highest CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle score earned by tied athletes.” The nice thing for us is that for the first time, the NAL has been officially allocated three starting places in the Finals.
There are a couple of other interesting facts about the qualifying process: The athlete earns points by placing, and a WEL athlete may ride different horses in the qualifiers. For instance, so far, Charlotte Fry has ridden three different horses (Glamourdale, Everdale and Lars Van De Hoenderheide) in the qualifiers. However, they may only participate with one horse in the Final and they are allowed to select the horse of their choice if that horse has started and qualified for at least two Grand Prix Freestyle competitions in the current season and has obtained the minimum qualification criteria of 68% in the two freestyles.
As I mentioned in last month’s column, the point system encourages a certain amount of strategy. Some of you may remember last year in the WEL there was a last-minute shakeup in the rankings when Helen Langehanenberg competed on Annabelle in the Motesice, Slovakia, CDI-W, part of the Central European League (CEL). It happened to be the same weekend when the European powerhouses were competing in the final WEL qualifier in s’Hertogenbosch. It ended up being a relatively easy win for Helen, therefore earning 20 points as there was only one other competitor in the class. This is the other interesting fact or twist in the rules. WEL athletes competing in the U.S. (or in any other League) can earn 100% points for the first and 50% for the second result. I would say Helen’s fellow competitors took a page from her playbook. In looking through the current results from the CEL, NAL and WEL, you will notice that several athletes from the WEL competed in a CEL CDI-W, thereby earning 20 points.
Of course, Helen was not the first to use a CDI-W in another league to gain points. We have seen it done in Wellington in years past and we may see it again this year. Meanwhile, back in Wellington, it means that French Olympic rider Morgan Barbançon and German World Championship rider Frederic Wandres, who are both here for season, could up their ranking by competing in the remaining two North American CDI-Ws mentioned above. It will be interesting to see what they plan to do. It is important to note that a win by someone not in the League of the country they are competing in does not take points away from an athlete competing in their own League.
Leading the CEL are Justina Vanagaite (LTU) with 80 points and Alisa Glinka (MDA) with 77 points. They are followed by Dina Ellermann (EST) with 54 points. There are two other starting places allocated, one to the Pacific League and one titled “extra.” Time will tell who will be at the Final, but no matter what, it’s looking to be an exciting competition!
Photo:
Dressage rider Steffen Peters, riding Suppenkasper at his farm in California, is currently leading the North American League standings for American riders.
Photo by Lori Ovanessian
Time will tell who will be at the Finals, but no matter what, it is looking to be an exciting competition!
