Jessica von Bredow-Werndl celebrated her premiere waving happily. For the first time in her career, the 37-year-old won the Grand Dressage Prize in Aachen. In the saddle of Dalera, the rider won the freestyle at the CHIO in front of around 10,000 spectators with 90.820 percent.
At the dressage highlight of the largest tournament in the world, the double Olympic champion and her mare were ahead of Nanna Skodborg Merrald from Denmark with Zepter (88.730) and the British Charlotte Dujardin with Imhotep (88.415). Von Bredow-Werndl had previously also won the Grand Prix and the Special as well as the team classification with the German team.
“You can feel how happy the audience was,” said the winner after the freestyle in an interview with WDR. “I saw that some tears wiped from their eyes.” However, she herself seemed moved after the glamorous performance and raved about her mare: “She is, that may sound cheesy, my best friend.”
Isabell Werth with second best German result
The rider only experienced a very small moment of shock during the freestyle to French chanson music. “When the spectators went along, she was briefly irritated,” reported von Bredow-Werndl. But Dalera quickly recovered. “I can feel how sensitive she is,” said the dressage rider, who dominated again after her baby break last year.
The second-best German result in the final freestyle was provided by record rider Isabell Werth from Rheinberg, who reached fifth place with Quantaz (84.840). Close behind in sixth place came Frederic Wandres from Hagen am Teutoburg Forest with Bluetooth (84.480).
Despite a mistake by Quantaz, Werth was “super happy” with her not always easy horse and only complained about an “overly motivated hop”. After problems at the German championships, “that was a step forward,” said the seven-time Olympic champion. Quantaz had “goggled””, explained the rider from Rheinberg with a grin. “It was a satisfactory week overall”, summed up the 53-year-old. On Saturday she won the Nations Cup with the German team and the free program of the supporting program with her second horse Emilio .
