Double Olympic champion. Team world champion. Two-time World Cup winner. Six times European Championship gold. The career of TSF Dalera BB under Jessica von Bredow-Werndl is soaring in the highest spheres! The couple gave the brilliant start to this exceptional career with victory in the 2017 Louisdor Prize final at the International Festhallen Reitturnier Frankfurt (IFRF). The Louisdor Prize has become the launching pad for great Grand Prix horses, and its finale has been part of the five-star dressage program in the Festhalle since 2012.
The Louisdor Prize is held over five stations, with the best two couples at each station qualifying for the final stage in the festival hall. Let's take a look at the 2023 final qualifiers: At the first stop in Hagen am Teutoburg Forest, the Werth stable celebrated a double success: Werth rider William Matthew won in the saddle of Freischütz ahead of boss Isabell Werth himself with Chuck Bass. In Wiesbaden, riding master Ingrid Klimke with SAP Freudentanzer and Yara Reichert with Valverde NRW secured the final tickets, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Beata Stremler qualified for the final in Kronberg with Forsazza de Malleret and Fürstin Bea OLD. Final ticket number two went to Ingrid Klimke with a victory on Equitanas Firlefranz in Donzdorf, Yara Reichert again placed behind the riding champion, this time on Springbank. This means: Yara Reichert also has two final qualifiers this year.
The last stop took place in Guxhagen at the beginning of October. Three horses scored over 77 percent in Guxhagen, all three are eight years old. Frizzantino ‘Fritz’ and Borja Carrascosa won with almost 80 percent in the last station, with exactly 79.830 percent – by far the highest score achieved this season. Second place went to Fortunity S under Nuno Palma e Santos with 78.532 percent. These two eight-year-olds had secured the last tickets for the festival hall. Sandro Marinero's daughter, Santa Maria, under Nicole Wego-Engelmeyer came third with 77.149 percent. Almost a bit bizarre: Santa Maria had achieved the third highest percentage of all qualifications in 2023, but she still won't be there in the final. The competition at the last station was too strong. This year, for the 17th time, the series for eight- to ten-year-old young Grand Prix horses is holding its finale, a finale for Germany's greatest hopes. The series has been called the 'Louisdor Prize' since 2012 and is supported by the Liselott and Klaus Rheinberger Foundation. 'Louisdor' - named after Klaus Rheinberger's last successful horse. During the qualifications, the Intermediaire II is ridden as a warm-up test and the Louisdor Grand Prix as a special test. At the finale, the Louisdor Grand Prix serves as the warm-up test and the 'long' Grand Prix serves as the evaluation test
Of the 16 final winners so far, nine have already competed in a championship – and have impressed. Last year, the then eight-year-old Fendi “rocked” the final under Sönke Rothenberger and won the final with the highest score to date: 79.90 percent! Will Frizzantino, who was so close to 80 percent in Guxhagen, be able to break this record? That will be decided on tournament Sunday, December 17, 2023, at the 50th anniversary edition of the Frankfurt Festhallen equestrian tournament.
Tickets and information for the International Festhallen Reitturnier Frankfurt 2023 is available either directly via the website www.festhallenreitturnier-frankfurt.com or from the ticket service provider Reservix www.reservix.de. Be sure to save the date: 13th-17th. December 2023!
