Del Mar’s Evening of Musical Freestyles delighted dressage fans with competition from some of the best in the world, including three-time Olympic Bronze medalist Guenter Seidel and Olympic and World Cup veteran Steffen Peters. They scored within a tenth of a percent of each other in the $5,000 Grand Prix Freestyle sponsored by Chalk Hill Estates Winery. Seidel on Aragon won with a score 74.450%, while Peters on Floriano scored 74.325% for second. Aragon is a 1992 Bavarian Warmblood gelding owned by Dick and Jane Brown, while Floriano, a 1990 Westphalian gelding is owned by Steve and Laurie Browning. The Evening of Musical Freestyles event is a qualifying competition for the World Equestrian Selection Trials and the 2006 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Championship.

The evening was highlighted by equestrian legends stepping into the arena for special presentations. World Cup champion and Olympian dressage superstar Debbie McDonald of River Grove Farm in Hailey, ID, participated in the evening’s events with the North American Young Riders (NAYR) presentation sponsored by Equine Insurance's Donna Chopp and Joe Parker. Del Mar National’s 2006 NAYR Region 7 Selection Trial classes are among the most competitive as these young riders advance their way towards the NAJYRC Championships. McDonald was at Del Mar working Brentina with U.S. Dressage Team Coach Klaus Balkenhol biding their time for World Equestrian Games taking place in August in Aachen, Germany, but didn’t show in the Evening of Musical Freestyles.

Show jumping’s second winningest grand prix rider of all time Hap Hansen, of Encinitas, CA, awarded the Hap Hansen Perpetual Trophy to Jennifer Schrader-Williams, winner of the $1,000 FEI Freestyle Test of Choice sponsored by G-2 Software and German Dressage. Schrader-Williams rode H.S. Wistar, a 10-year-old Hungarian stallion winning for a score of 68.5%.

On Friday afternoon, husband and wife Steffen and Shannon Peters of San Diego, CA, won both CDI*** classes. Shannon Peters rode Luxor, a 1993 Dutch Warmblood gelding, to score 72.750% and win the $1,500 FEI Prix St. Georges, a qualifying class for USEF 2006 National Intermediaire I Championships. The $5,000 Grand Prix followed, and was won by Steffen Peters riding Floriano, a 1990 Westfalen gelding with a score of 72.208%. The class was a qualifier for the World Equestrian Selection Trials and the 2006 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Championship. Shannon Peters and Luxor continued their winning streak on Saturday afternoon to win the $1,500 FEI Intermediaire I, qualifying competition for the 2006 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Intermediaire I Championships.

Dressage Division Manager Regina Antonioli said, “I think it’s most exciting that the Del Mar National has become truly an international event. The high level of competition has attracted such interest that this year we hosted the FEI Judges Forum, and in addition, USEF Coach Klaus Balkenhol chose our show as a venue to coach long-listed team members.

Even though it’s always exciting to see the top level horses in the main arena it’s incredibly rewarding to see riders like Steffen and Debbie bringing along young horses in the back rings. This shows a great depth of the sport here and shows that we’ll continue at such a high level.”

61st Annual Del Mar National $100,000 Grand Prix of Del Mar Hosts Sell Out Crowd
Canadian John Pearce rode Archie Bunker, owned by Forestview Farms of Stouffville, Ontario, to win the $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar, an AGA Event, with a sell-out crowd of 4,000 packed into the Del Mar Arena. Pearce beat a field of 30 riders narrowed down from 53 over two nights of qualifiers.

A dynamic course set by designer Anthony D’Ambrosio, of Red Hook, NY, proved tough to ride without faults