Simone Pearce leads in Ermelo's World Championship

Australia fared exceptionally well at last night’s second round of qualifications for five and six-year-olds at the Longines FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses.

Feodoro and his Australian rider Simone Pearce now lead the intermediate rankings of the six-year-old category. Notably, the Hannoverian son of Furstenball scored the first 10 of the class for his excellent walk. 

Pearce is also currently sitting in fourth position in the five-year-old category with the Conen descendant Casablanca (ds. Fidertanz). Like her stablemate Feodoro, she also received a perfect score of 10 for her powerful trot. 

Feodoro’s second highest points were awarded for his canter and perspective (both 9.2). His trot was graded 8.2 and the submission earned 8.5. This resulted in an average of 9.02 placing him at the head of the rankings. 

Judge’s President Susanne Baarup said: “Today we also had a very good group with lots of talent and correct riding. We found a winner in a Feodoro, a fantastic horse that performed the test in such a nice manner. However, the performance depends on the form of the day and the final on Sunday includes two more flying changes and then it comes to the small details. We cannot wait until Sunday to see if the top placed horses can uphold their position or if other horses will surprise us.”

Australia’s second rider in the six-year-old class, Briana Burgess rode the KWPN-bred Gerjon (Jazz x Don Primero) to fourth position. The top 12 of the intermediate ranking list is automatically placed for the final on Sunday. 

Rebecca Rooke aboard Trakhener-Bred Muschamp Royal Black (All Inclusive x Biotop) will start in the Small Final for five-year-olds in a bid to secure one of three spots in the Final on Sunday. You can watch Rebecca & Muschamp Royal Black on http://www.clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/events/1608 at 7.47pm AEST

The Final Rounds will be held on Sunday with the draw available after the Small Finals on Saturday and can be live streamed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8S4jx8PBcE

• Five-year-old Final Round will start at 5.30pm AEST
• Six-year-old Final Round will start at 11pm AEST