Prize of the BFT-Group
Thomas Wagner wins the Prize of the BFT-Group
In the saddle of his ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding Escolar's Emil, Thomas Wagner took the lead in the Prize of the BFT-Group, thanks to an expressive and confident performance.
“I am very proud of how Emil performed today,” said Thomas Wagner, praising his sporting partner Escolar's Emil after his successful performance in the national dressage competition at three-star level. “The training over the last few weeks has really paid off.” This assessment was shared by judge Nicole Nockemann, who accompanied the competition as a commentator for participants and spectators. She was particularly impressed by the canter work of the ten-year-old Escolar son: “An extremely powerful, athletic horse with very active hindlegs, who impressed with his clear ground coverage in the extensions, long-strided changes and accentuated pirouettes.” A performance that was rewarded by the international jury with 73.972 percent and gave Thomas Wagner additional confidence for his upcoming appearance in the Louisdor Final, which will be held in just over two weeks in Frankfurt's Festhalle.
Second place went to Dante's Pearl, also qualified for Frankfurt, who was presented very sensitively by her rider Charlott-Maria Schürmann (72.801 %). Julia de Ridder took third place in the saddle of the nine-year-old Westphalian-bred stallion Birkhofs Diamantinos (71.135 %). “I hope we can do it again tomorrow,” said Thomas Wagner immediately after the prize-giving ceremony, looking ahead to Friday. Then the young horses will compete in the “long” Grand Prix, Prize of Family Simons-de Ridder.
Photo: Jasmin Metzner
The winner was congratulated by Guido Müller (Managing Director of BFT Cognos), Hans Voser (Judge) and Frank Kemperman (Member of the Advisory Board of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein).
