The Westfalian-bred stallions Damon Hill and Florencio won the World Breeding Federation Sport Horses (WBFSH) World Championships for young dressage horses, held July 1-3 in Verden, Germany. Five-year-old Damon Hill (Donnerhall x Rubinstein), ridden by Helen Langehanenberg, scored a 9.02 in the finals, just ahead of half-brother Donnerball (Donnerhall x Alabaster) and FBW Dejavu (Dacaprio x Glueckspilz). In the six-year-old division, last year's five-year-old champion Florencio (Florestan x Weltmeyer) was ridden to a repeat title by Hans Peter Minderhout and an overall score of 9.48. The Oldenburg Spirit Freedom 2 (Sion x Figaro) was second, and Trakhener Insterburg 10 (Hohenstein x Giorgio Armani) was third.

Three horses represented the United States. The American star of these championships was the five-year-old Oldenburg gelding Currency DC (Clintino -- Cinderella by Classiker), finishing a respectable 11th place with a score of 7.76 in the finals. Ridden by Susan Dutta for Tim Dutta, Inc., Currency DC dominated the five-year-old division in the United States at the USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage Eastern Selection Trial last month in Raleigh, NC. Hokan Thorn rode the Hanoverian gelding Donegal (Davignport -- Guadeloupe by Grundstein) for owner Joanne Balling to a 16th place finish in the five-year-old Consolation Finals. In the six-year-old division, Hilltop Farm, Inc.'s Hanoverian stallion Royal Prince (Rohdiamant -- Piri Piri by Prince Thatch) finished 9th in the Consolation Finals with Susanne Hassler.

Find full results at www.verden-turnier.de.
~~~