Edward Gal and wonderhorse Totilas — favourites for the World Cup final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, this Saturday — lacked sparkle in last night’s qualifier and were beaten my compatriots Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival on home soil.
Adelinde scored 78.85% on her European special individual gold medallist to beat Edward by more than 2%.
The slate will be wiped clean before Saturday, when the final grand prix kür that decides this year’s World Cup champion kicks off at 2pm local time.
The Dutch dominated the line-up in this warm-up competition, with Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Hunter Douglas Sunrise claiming third place ahead of Germany’s Isabell Werth.
Moorlands Totilas lacked the breathtaking expression that has had him repeatedly breaking world records over the past nine months. The stallion was also explosive in his canter work and did not seem to settle during the test.
Cornelissen was last to go and Parzival, who has struggled with his nerves before, kept it together and appeared to grow in confidence throughout the test.
Judge Wim Ernes said: “Parzival was a little tense, but Adelinde had him on the bit to avoid mistakes and she managed very well. It was a great result.”
Suddenly, Saturday’s final is a two horse race.
Don’t miss Horse & Hound 1 April issue for full report, photographs and result
Results
1, Jerich Parzival (Adelinde Cornelissen) (NED) 78.85
2, Moorlands Totilas (Edward Gal) (NED) 76.80
3, Hunter Douglas Sunrise (Imke Schellekens Bartels) (NED) 74.89
4, Warum Nicht FRH (Isabell Werth) (GER) 73.31
5, Watermill Scandic HBC (Patrik Kittel) (SWE) 72.08
6, Digby (Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein) (DEN) 71.19
7, Triviant-Unicef (Matthias Alexander Rath) (GER) 70.51
8, Favorit (Tinne Vilelmson-Silfven) (SWE) 69.23
9, Le Bo (Carola Koppelmann) (GER) 68.63
10, Apollo Van Het Vijverhof (Jeroen Devroe) (BEL) 68.25
11, Victory Salute (Brett Parbery) (AUS) 67.02
12, Randon (Michal Rapcewicz) (POL) 66.72
13, Ekwador (Katarzyna Milczarek) (POL) 64.93
14, Cointreau (Peter Gmoser) (AUT) 63.91
15, Samba (Luiza Almeida) (BRA) 60.63
