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‘Dressage is not her favourite thing to do’: reigning Olympic champion gets her Worlds campaign underway


  • German team rider Julia Krajewski put in a solid performance in her eventing World Championships dressage test in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, today (16 September).

    Riding her individual Olympic gold medal-winning mount, Amande De B’Néville, Julia posted a score of 26 to sit in fourth place at this stage of the competition.

    “I’m very happy with her. Dressage is not her favourite thing to do, but she really kept herself together,” said Julia. “She did an amazing extended trot and canter and I think the flying changes were good and the halts were quite good for her.”

    Bar being awarded fives and 5.5s from the judges for their medium walk, Julia and the 12-year-old mare, whom she co-owns with Bernd Heicke, scored plenty of sevens and eights, with nines across the board for their extended canter.

    “The key to her is to not do too much dressage – she’s a showjumper in the end – so she’s doing amazingly. I wanted to score around 25, and we managed it.”

    Ireland’s hopes were boosted when Padraig McCarthy posted a score of 29.4 with the 13-year-old mare, Fallulah.

    “I was really really happy with her – I had a very good feeling from her,” said Padraig after his eventing World Championships dressage test. “I was a little bit disappointed with the mark as she got 24 at Pau last year, and I feel she’s come on since then.”

    France’s Gaspard Masked has snuck into 10th place with Zarazoga at this stage of the competition with 27.4.

    “She was very good. She came in and wasn’t fazed by the atmosphere. She just went in and just did what she had to do,” said Gaspard. “She’s a bit of a grumpy princess,  but she came in here today and was very focused and did the job.”

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