Dressage Brits should not be ruled out, but one team’s firepower makes them the favourites
Horse & Hound’s dressage editor Alice Collins assesses what looks to be a tight race for the bronze, while one team’s fire-power make them odds-on favourites
THERE may be a gaping Valegroshaped hole in this year’s British team for the first time in seven years, but do not kiss goodbye to the chance of a medal.
These four men — Carl Hester, Emile Faurie, Gareth Hughes and Spencer Wilton — have all ridden on championship teams before, so the pressures won’t be a shock and they’ll be well positioned to bring their horses to their performance peaks just at the moment they motor down the centre line.
Germany have two exceptional combinations in Isabell Werth on Weihegold and Sönke Rothenberger on Cosmo — both of whom contributed handsomely to their nation’s gold medal at the Rio Olympics last year — and they are favourites for team gold.
Looking at the last grand prix scores of each horse and rider combo among the teams jostling at the top, the best three German performers average 79.27% (bolstered by Weihegold’s latest plus-83% score, Cosmo’s 79.27% and Helen Langehanenberg 75.9% with Damsey), while Britain’s three average 76.13% (this includes a stonking 78.35% posted by Spencer Wilton and Supernova at Hartpury CDI last month; plus Nip Tuck’s 76.67% and Don Carissimo’s 73.38%). When you get down to statistical bronze, it becomes really interesting; Denmark’s latest three best scores average 74.62% to the Netherlands’ 74.02%. It’s going to be tight. The Netherlands, traditionally a nation that reliably nets dressage medals, is this year without a standout performer, though Edward Gal’s Voice and Hans Peter Minderhoud’s Johnson (individual bronze medallist at the Europeans in Aachen) are bankable plus-70% performers and even capable of high 70s on an exceptional day.
Keep an eye out for their Dutch team-mate Madeleine Witte-Vrees and her lovely chestnut horse Cennin: he is only 10, but has been racking up chunky scores at grand prix level for over a year now and could come up with high-70s goods.
Denmark’s biggest score is likely to come from Cathrine Dufour and Atterupgaards Cassidy, who I have tipped as a potential individual medallist too, as the enthusiastic, lovable horse goes from strength to strength.
Sweden are knocking on the door too, with their team stalwart of Patrik Kittel riding the lovely mare Deja, while the hugely-experienced Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén rides Paridon Magi as her top horse, Don Auriello, is out of action and hasn’t competed since Rio.