Wellington, Fla. – The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team finished second on the podium in the Stillpoint Farm FEI Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3* USA at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Fla., with a total team score of 448.381% for the silver medal. They were narrowly edged by the team representing Germany, who secured top honors with a final score of 448.568%. Canada earned bronze with a final score of 437.071%.
The Stillpoint Farm FEI Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3* USA serves as the first leg of the FEI Dressage Nations Cup Series and is the only FEI Dressage Nations Cup competition hosted in the United States.
Chef d’Equipe Debbie McDonald led the team of Katherine Bateson-Chandler and Alcazar, Ben Ebeling and Illuster Van De Kampert, Adrienne Lyle aboard Harmony’s Duval, and Jennifer Schrader-Williams with Millione. This is the first team appearance for both Ebeling and Schrader-Williams in a senior Nations Cup representing The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team.
“I can always expect our team to deliver. We had two rookies in their first Senior Nations Cup appearance and two combinations who have been there several times, so it was good for our newer two combinations to have mentors on the team,” said McDonald. “As far as the performances, today we were one, two, and three in the Special and the Germans also did a very good job. More than half of their team was at Small Tour and it was an amazing competition with an exciting ending. I’m so proud of our U.S. team."
With four combinations competing at Large Tour, a 1.5% coefficient was added to each of their individual scores in both the FEI Grand Prix and FEI Grand Prix Special. Three of the U.S. team combinations held tightly to the top of the overall individual leaderboard in the FEI Grand Prix Special to conclude the second and final day of team competition. Lyle and Harmony’s Duval, a 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Duval Partners, finished with a 75.989% to lead the class rankings. Williams (Olympia, Wash.) piloted Millione, an 18-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding owned by Millione Partners LLC to second place following a personal best performance and career-high score of 75.458%. Ebeling (Moorpark, Calif.), the youngest member of the team, rode Illuster Van De Kampert, a 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by Amy Ebeling and Sasha Cutter for Nuvolari Holdings LLC, to a 74.564% for third place in the competitive class. The veteran combination of Bateson-Chandler and Alcazar, a 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Jane Clark, received a 71.011%.
“For me, it is super exciting to see someone as young and as talented as Ben with such a lovely horse. I see that partnership continuing on an uphill trend, and this is wonderful experience for our new combinations to be on a team and experience that kind of pressure,” added McDonald. “Jen Williams is an amazing rider and her horse is a bit older and is just amazing - a little machine. I look forward to seeing what she has coming up in her pipeline for the future too.”
All four pairs will move forward to contest the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO3* for individual medals tomorrow evening, which will be available for live-stream viewing on USEF Network beginning at 8:15 p.m. ET.
Hope Cooper (Concord, Mass.) and Hot Chocolate W, a 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Mary Mansfield, topped the FEI Grand Prix 16-25 to qualify for the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle U25 competition tomorrow evening to conclude the FEI Nations Cup CDIO-U25 competition for the week. The pair received a 70.590% to take the win, while teammate Codi Harrison (Wellington, Fla.) and Katholt’s Bossco, her own 14-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding finished in second place with a 70.282%.
Complete CDIO3* Team Results
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