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5 things not to miss as the grand prix dressage concludes at the Paris Olympics – big-name stars inching closer to the medals

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • We are midway through the Olympic dressage grand prix qualifier at Paris 2024, with means we have six riders through to Sunday’s freestyle, while the team qualification for the special is starting to take shape. The second day (Wednesday, 31 July) promises to be a feast of competitive action (and hopefully a few degrees cooler than today’s scorcher).

    Here is the lowdown on the five things you should keep an eye out for as we wrap up the qualifying phase of the dressage action. View all the grand prix times.

    Olympic dressage day two: key things to watch

    1. The world champion in action – and she’s a Brit! Make sure you get all your horsey chores done in good time, as Lottie Fry and Glamourdale are first before the judges at 10am local time (9am British time).

    2. Don’t miss the Olympic champions, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB, who are last to go at 3.20pm local time (2.20pm British time). Jessica’s been delighting her fans with adorable videos of her sleeping in a hammock in Dalera’s stable in Versailles with the mare quietly watching over her, but can they show the magic of their partnership in the ring?

    3. Group D. This is the hottest group of the draw and takes place in the morning. Combinations are seeded, but it can be fairly arbitrary depending on how often the rider has chosen to compete this season. Group D, Lottie’s section, also has Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (Freestyle) and Isabell Werth (Wendy). All of them are tipped to be major contenders, but remember that only two qualify automatically. This could be a nail-biter that lasts until the final rider.

    3. Freestyle finalists! At the end of the second day of dressage action, we will know exactly which individual riders are through to the individual freestyle on Sunday, 4 August. It will be 18 riders in total: the top two from each of the six groups in this grand prix, plus the six highest scores from the remainder. And we have a Brit, Becky Moody, already through after she topped group C on day one.

    4. Team qualifications. The top 10 of the 15 teams are set to go through to the special, which decides the team medals on Saturday, 3 August. So far, some nations have fielded two of their three riders and others – including Germany – have only had one. However, Denmark has made a strong bid for gold with outstanding performanes from both Nanna Skodborg-Merrald and Daniel Bachmann Andersen topping their groups.

    5. A slight decrease in the scorching temperatures. Day one was a scorcher, with a peak of 35ºC. Patrik Kittel said it was the hottest he’d ever competed in and some spectators couldn’t last the day in the furnace that was the stadium. But the horses coped really well, with cooling tents with misting fans and troughs of iced water, as well as regular temperature checks ensuring their wellbeing. Mercifully, thunderstorms are on the agenda, and we could enjoy relatively pleasant highs of 31ºC instead.

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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