DEUTSCHLAND DOMINATES AS BLENHEIM HEATS UP

The Palace is standing tall, albeit in slightly wounded glory, and showers gave way to bursts of warm sunshine, setting the perfect scene for a day of top-level sport.⁣

⁣The crowds, draped in their national flags and patriotic spirit, were in fine form—cheering passionately for their respective nations.⁣

⁣As expected, the German contingent has made a formidable start and currently sits atop the team leaderboard, with a strong challenge from Team GB just behind.⁣

⁣𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐍-𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃⁣

⁣Leading the individual standings is Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp, riding the 13-year-old Holsteiner Carlitos Quidditch K, with a dressage score of 27.8. Close behind is teammate Libussa Lübbeke, currently second on Caramia 34 with a score of 28.3—setting Germany up for a powerful team performance.⁣

⁣Malin, 47, who runs a farm in rural eastern Germany, is no stranger to success at Blenheim. She and Carlitos Quidditch K won the CCI4*-L here in 2022, giving her a distinct advantage on this rolling, historic terrain.⁣

⁣“𝘔𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥,” said Malin, who served as the pathfinder for Germany’s silver medal-winning team at the 2023 European Championships at Haras du Pin, France.⁣

𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐀 𝐋Ü𝐁𝐁𝐄𝐊𝐄⁣

⁣At just 24, Libussa Lübbeke is making a stellar impression in her senior team debut. Riding her 15-year-old homebred Hanoverian mare Caramia 34, Libussa has already earned team gold and silver medals at Young Rider level—and now seems poised to make an impact on the senior stage.⁣

⁣“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺—𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”⁣

⁣𝐘𝐀𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐉 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍⁣

⁣Sitting in third overnight is Yasmin Ingham, the reigning World Champion, riding Rehy DJ, a 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse affectionately known as ‘Piglet’. The pair share a long partnership, having come through the Young Rider ranks together.⁣

⁣“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘮—𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳,” said Yasmin, who was part of Team GB’s gold medal-winning squad at the 2023 Europeans. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵—𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘹. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘗𝘪𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘪𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦!”⁣

⁣𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝟑𝟎𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏⁣

It was a landmark day for Belgian stalwart Karin Donckers, who is contesting her 30th senior championship and an extraordinary 15th European Championships. She posted a score of 34.9 aboard Ceres de la Brasserie, a daughter of her former team ride Gazelle de la Brasserie, and currently sits in 15th place.⁣

Donckers is one of the few riders who also competed at the 2005 Europeans held here at Blenheim, where she finished fourth individually.⁣

⁣“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘺—𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.”⁣

⁣

⁣𝐆𝐅𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝟖 & 𝟗-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑-𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐂𝐈𝟒*-𝐒: 𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐌𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄⁣

⁣In the GFS Saddles 8 & 9-Year-Old CCI4*-S, Gemma Stevens continues her impressive run of form, bringing forward three horses and currently topping the leaderboard with Cooley Park Muze, owned by The Rex Syndicate, on an outstanding score of 22.9.⁣

⁣Following closely behind are Fiona Kashel and Monbeg Cazador on 25.0, and Sian Coleman with Kilroe Frolic in third on 26.8.⁣

⁣This prestigious class, introduced in 2009, is designed to provide a high-profile platform for talented young event horses on the cusp of international success. Its very first winner was none other than Piggy March, a name now firmly embedded in the sport’s history, riding Flying Machine.⁣

⁣Dressage resumes tomorrow with Tim Price and Gloire De Marchenval and Pietro Majolino and Vita Louise DH Z commencing at 10.00am and 10.30am respectively.