Mannheim: Rath and Destacado FRH win Grand Prix Special
The Grand Prix Special at the Mannheim Maimarkt Tournament was dominated by promising young horses. Matthias Alexander Rath (Kronberg) and Destacado FRH, a pair that has recently been called up to the German prospects squad, were the winners. Isabell Werth (Rheinberg) took second place with her future hope Superb. And third place went to the reigning winner of the Louisdor Prize, Total Hope OLD with Isabel Freese (NOR).
They had come second in the Grand Prix on Sunday, but then everything worked out in their second start in Mannheim: Matthias Alexander Rath and the nine-year-old Hanoverian Destacado FRH (Desperados - Londonderry) took the lead in the classification with a score of 76.277 percent. In March, the pair had won the Grand Prix and Special in Ornago, Italy, and since then they have made a lot of progress. In Italy they won the Special with a score of 74.277 percent. With his first victory at a four-star competition, the chestnut stallion continues to climb the dressage career ladder. As a three-year-old, Destacado became Bundeschampion, as a five-year-old he won the silver medal at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses, as a seven-year-old he was the winner of the Nuremberg Burg Cup, and then as an eight-year-old he successfully entered Grand Prix sport with a victory in the Louisdor Qualifier.
Isabell Werth has chosen a different path with her young horse Superb. Werth only competed with the black mare for the first time in the summer of 2020. Before that, the Hanoverian mare by Surprice - Donautanz had only competed in tests for young riding horses. In 2021, Werth and Superb won the Louisdor Qualifier in Munich. In February 2022, Superb, now ten years old, made her victorious entrance into the "big" Grand Prix sport in Neumünster. At the CDI3* Horses&Dreams in Hagen a.T.W., the pair achieved two victories in Grand Prix and Special. So the Mannheim Maimarkt was now only the second big international tournament for Superb. After fourth place in the Grand Prix (73.870 percent) on Sunday, a clear improvement followed in the Special, which was rewarded with an even 76 percent and second place.
For the black stallion, also only ten years old, with the prominent parents, Total Hope OLD, Mannheim was even the first international Grand Prix tournament. The Oldenburg stallion descends from Totilas and Weihegold OLD. He won the Grand Prix on Sunday with his Norwegian rider Isabel Freese (75.956 percent). In the Special, the pair, who had won the final of the Louisdor Prize in December 2021, finished third with a score of 75.574 percent. A canter in the transition from the passage into the strong trot cost decisive points, as the results on the first three places were close together.
