Five Series Riders Advance to Aachen Grand Prix Special
With the Grand Prix safely behind them, the Series competitors turn their focus to the top-18 cutoff for Saturday's Freestyle.
Out of 11 US Equestrian Open Series riders who took to the arena in the Grand Prix at the Aachen World Championships, five earned their place in Friday’s elite top-30 field for the Grand Prix Special.
Overall field leader Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle topped the Grand Prix on 82.376%, followed by Justin Verboomen on Zonik Plus (80.885%) and Charlotte Fry on Glamourdale (80.311%). But as Friday approaches, the Grand Prix results become a distant memory. In dressage championship format, the Grand Prix serves strictly as the qualifier; Friday’s placings start over from scratch, with riders ranked solely on the results of the Special test to determine which 18 combinations move on to the Grand Prix Freestyle.
Werth Positioned for Medal Pursuit
Leading the US Equestrian Open cohort into Friday is Germany’s Isabell Werth riding Wendy de Fontaine. Qualifying cleanly in fourth place with a 79.876% in the Grand Prix, Werth enters a test where her statistical record makes her an immediate podium contender.
Wendy de Fontaine brings a formidable Special resume to Friday’s competition. Across 10 career Grand Prix Specials, the mare boasts an average score of 78.54% and a career peak of 82.426%. In a standalone test where precision is paramount, Werth and Wendy remain a lethal medal threat.
Top-10 Contention
Further down the field, Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth OLD delivered their trademark reliability in the Grand Prix, finishing ninth on 75.963%, right on target with their career Grand Prix average of 75.2%.
In the Special, however, Bluetooth OLD is even stronger. The gelding holds a career average of 75.8% across 13 Specials, with a personal best of 78.340%. In fact, looking strictly at career Special averages, Wandres ranks seventh overall in this 30-rider field. If he rides to his average on Friday, a top-10 finish is well within reach, easily securing his spot in the top-18 Freestyle.
Ecuador’s Julio Mendoza Loor aboard Jewel’s Goldstrike is tied after the Grand Prix for 25th on 71.304% with America’s Christian Simonson and Fleau de Baian.
Mendoza Loor is a proven Freestyle specialist holding a career-high 84.230% to music. While Jewel’s Goldstrike has just two Specials on record—one of which was a gold-medal performance at the 2023 Pan American Games—Loor is actually 10th in this 30-person field when looking at career averages in the Special. If he rides to form, he should easily make the top-18 cutoff to reach the Freestyle, where his 84-percent-best could contend for a top-5 finish.
Targeting the Top-18
For the remaining two Series riders, Friday is all about finding every point possible to score within the top-18 so they can ride in Saturday’s main event.
Canada’s Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu and Jaccardo secured their spot in the Special by placing 22nd on 71.926% in the Grand Prix. With only three career Specials on Jaccardo’s record, and a high mark of 74.575%, a clean, mistake-free test gives them the best chance to climb into the top 18.
Simonson and Fleau de Baian enter Friday as a developing combination with two previous Grand Prix Specials on record and a personal best of 71.255%. By matching Mendoza Loor’s 71.304% in the Grand Prix, they demonstrated the consistency required to compete in a championship stadium. Their objective for the Special is to secure a score within the top 18 to qualify for the Freestyle. As a new partnership, they’ve got one of the lower averages in the field, so it’ll be a stretch, but not impossible.
A Fresh Slate on Friday
Without music to cushion technical flaws, accuracy and experience will decide who advances. Werth hunts a medal, Wandres and Mendoza Loor look to secure top-10 placings, and the emerging combinations fight to extend their week into the Freestyle.
