Three major cities are vying to host the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final and FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in 2018, with Paris (FRA), Las Vegas (USA) and Gothenburg (SWE) all bidding for the global indoor season finale. The deadline for receipt of bids expired at 12 midnight last night, 1 October.
Two of the venues – Las Vegas and Gothenburg – are regular hosts of the FEI World Cup™ Finals, but this is the first time that a bid has come in for the Finals to be staged in Paris.
GL Events, organisers of last year’s widely acclaimed FEI World Cup™ Finals in Lyon, as well as major annual events in Lyon and Paris, are bidding to host the 2018 Finals in the newly refurbished Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy (POPB).
Olympic champion, Switzerland's Steve Guerdat, pictured with Casper Gebeke, Longines Sweden country manager, after winning the twelfth and final qualifying round of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2014/2015 Western European League with the mare Albfuehren's Paille at Gothenburg, Sweden today. (FEI/Roland Thunholm)
Las Vegas Events (LVE), which hosted this year’s FEI World Cup™ Finals at the Thomas & Mack Center, have come back to the table with the same venue for 2018 after attempts to find an alternative location were unsuccessful, although LVE are looking at other options for future bids. LVE have now hosted six hugely popular FEI World Cup™ Finals, two in Jumping and four combined Finals with both Jumping and Dressage, at the Thomas & Mack Center, which is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment.
The Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, which hosted the first FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final back in 1979 and a further 21 Finals since then, is now bidding for its 23rd Final and is considered by many to be the home of the FEI World Cup™ Finals. The joint Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final and Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final are already booked to return to Gothenburg next year, and Gothenburg is also the host city for the FEI European Championships 2017, when athletes in Jumping, Dressage, Para-Equestrian Dressage and Driving will be battling it out for the medals.
World champion Joanne Eccles (GBR) captivated crowds at the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15 second qualifier at the Salon du Cheval in Paris where, on WH Bentley and lunged by her father John Eccles, she won the female individual competition and the Pas-de-Deux with her sister Hannah. (Eric Malherbe/FEI)
“We are delighted to have three global cities bidding to host the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final and FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in 2018”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Zeender said. “The FEI has a long-standing partnership with both Gothenburg and Las Vegas, but it is also very exciting to see Paris entering a bid. We look forward to announcing the successful host city next month.”
The bid process for the 2018 Finals was reopened in August to allow LVE to come back with a revised proposal. Bidders will present to the FEI Evaluation Commission later this month, and an announcement on the successful host city for the dual Finals will be made after the FEI Bureau meeting during the FEI General Assembly in Puerto Rico on 10 November.
Las Vegas, USA knows all about welcoming stars, and this weekend another big name can expect the red-carpet treatment when he arrives in the entertainment capital of the world ahead of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 Final.
Cameras flashing, TV crews following his every move and the frenzy and razzmatazz that goes with super-stardom are all in a day’s work for this handsome, talented and sophisticated athlete whose fancy footwork has broken every record in the book in recent years.
Super-hero Valegro, the Dressage horse with the Midas touch, is coming to town. And the Lord of the Dance has top billing as he battles to claim the supreme title of indoor Dressage for his rider, Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin, for the second year in a row when the action gets underway at the Thomas & Mack Arena on Thursday 16 April.
He comes with a full supporting cast and crew that includes the man who created one of the most exciting Dressage partnerships of all time, Dujardin’s friend, mentor and trainer Carl Hester. However, reclaiming the Reem Acra title will be no walk-in-the-park for the daring British duo, their back-up team or their army of fans. Because there are plenty of pretenders to the Reem Acra throne.
Former winners
Major contenders include three former winners: Germany’s Isabell Werth, The Netherlands’ Edward Gal and the USA’s Steffen Peters. Werth’s stellar career has seen many meteoric moments, including victory with Fabienne at the FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in Gothenburg back in 1992. She was only 22 years of age at the time, and she’s never disappeared off the radar since. One of the most medalled athletes in the sport, she went on to take the title a second time 15 years later with Warum Nicht. And that was 2007 in Las Vegas where she was also runner-up in 2009, suggesting a strong degree of comfort and familiarity when she returns to the scene of her former glory next week, this time partnering El Santo NRW.
Gal brings the horse with which he won the last qualifying leg on home ground last month in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the venue at which he was crowned FEI World Cup™ Dressage champion with the great Totilas in 2010. The result promoted him to the top of the highly-competitive Western European League, edging out longtime leader Jessica von Bredow-Werndl from Germany by a single point. Gal’s fabulous stallion, Glock’s Undercover, who helped claimed team bronze for The Netherlands at both the London 2012 Olympic Games and at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, gave a glimpse of the further potential that lies beneath his sometimes nervous disposition that day. And Gal is hoping his horse will grow into the atmosphere at the Thomas & Mack Arena and produce his very best, which would certainly put the rest under pressure.
Ulla Salzgeber and Herzruf’s Erbe won the seventh leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 Western European League at Neumünster, (FEI/Karl Heinz Freiler)
American winners
There have only been two American winners of the FEI World Cup™ Dressage title during its 30-year history, so when Steffen Peters and Ravel followed in the hallowed hoof-prints of Debbie McDonald and the great mare Brentina, and did so under the Las Vegas lights in 2009, the celebrations could be heard a very long way off. Peters comes to the 2015 Final on the crest of a wave after a double of convincing FEI World Cup™ Dressage victories with Legolas in recent months, but the three-time Olympian will be hoping to stay out of the shadow of fellow-American Laura Graves, whose star has been rising at a rapid rate ever since she came under the spotlight in Normandy last summer with Verdades.
Graves is one of the burgeoning generation of young talent benefitting from the legacy of nine-time FEI World Cup™ Dressage title-holder, The Netherlands’ Anky van Grunsven, who remains the undisputed Freestyle queen. When first introduced 25 years ago, Freestyle Dressage to music was considered almost outrageous by the more conservative element in the sport. However it has brought about an explosion of interest in the discipline, with a whole new public enthralled by the sight of horse and rider working in harmony and, seemingly, dancing to their musical score.
So much promise
Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Fabienne Lutkemeier are two more of that up-and-coming generation with so much promise, and with many more show-stealers including Finland’s Terhi Stegars and her much-loved little stallion Axis TSF and Spain’s Morgan Barbancon Mestre partnering van Grunsven’s former ride Painted Black all in the mix, the scene is set for a cracking contest.
But if Valegro were to design his own stage, then the Thomas & Mack Arena would probably be it. But for a blip in Aachen, Germany last summer, his career has been a series of sensational results since he stole the show in Greenwich Park, London just three short years ago when claiming double Olympic gold. The 167cms gelding and his rider went on to add the European, World and Reem Acra titles and, along the way, have reset all three world record scores for Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and Freestyle.
Their spell-binding performances have won the hearts of spectators all across the globe, and American fans will relish the chance to see them live. Of course in sport, nothing is ever certain, and anyone involved with horses knows that better than most. But one thing is for sure, the FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2014/2015 Final in Las Vegas promises spine-tingling entertainment, supreme horsemanship and a worthy winner of the Reem Acra crown.
The Lord of the Dance, the amazing Valegro, has top billing as he battles to claim the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage title for his rider, Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin, for the second year in a row when the 2014/2015 Final gets underway at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday 16 April. (FEI/Arnd Bronkhorst)
Facts and Figures:
New York fashion designer, Reem Acra, presents the 30th FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas, USA from 15 to 19 April.
18 athletes from 9 nations will compete.
The countries that will be represented are: Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Russia and USA.
Defending champions are Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, winners at the 2014 Final in Lyon (FRA) and Olympic, world and European gold medallists.
Also on the start-list are former FEI World Cup™ Dressage series winners Isabell Werth from Germany (1992 in Gothenburg and 2007 in Las Vegas), America’s Steffen Peters (2009 in Las Vegas) and Edward Gal (2010 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch).
The Netherlands holds the record for most wins in the FEI World Cup™ Dressage series with 12 in total, and nine of those recorded by Dutch Freestyle queen, Anky van Grunsven.
The next most prolific winners are Germany, with eight to date.
The Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final 2015 will begin on Thursday 16 April with the Grand Prix which is open to all 18 horse-and-rider combinations.
All participants who finish the Grand Prix with a score of at least 60% will continue to the Grand Prix Freestyle which will decide the destination of the 2015 title on Saturday 18 April.
The FEI has today confirmed the entries for the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final 2015 which will take place in Las Vegas, NV (USA) in three weeks’ time.
The following rider/horse combinations will be taking part in the event:
Western European League (9 slots)
Edward GAL/Glock’s Undercover (NED)
Jessica VON BREDOW-WERNDL/Unee BB (GER)
Fabienne LÜTKEMEIER/D’Agostino (GER)
Isabell WERTH /Don Johnson/El Santo (GER)
Hans Peter MINDERHOUD/Glok’s Flirt (NED)
Agnete KIRK THINGGAARD/Jojo (DEN)
Morgan BARBANCON MESTRE/Painted Black (ESP)
Paulinda FRIBERG/Di Lapponia T (SWE)
Malin HAMILTON/Fleetwood (SWE)
Central European League (2 slots)
Elena SIDNEVA /Romeo Star (RUS)
Tatiana DOROFEEVA /Kartsevo Upperville (RUS)
North American League (2 slots)
Steffen PETERS/Legolas 92 (USA)
Laura GRAVES /Verdades (USA)
The girl with the floating horse: Charlotte Dujardin (GBR) on a lap of honour with Valegro after their win in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final 2014 in Lyon (FRA). Dujardin and Valegro will defend their title in Las Vegas (USA) next month. FEI/Arnd Bronkhorst
Title Defender
Charlotte DUJARDIN/Valegro (GBR)
FEI extra starting places
Lars PETERSEN/Mariett (DEN)
Mikala GUNDERSEN/My Lady (DEN)
Inessa MERKULOVA/Mister X (RUS)
Terhi STEGARS /Axis TSF (FIN)
The Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final 2015 will begin on Thursday 16 April with the Grand Prix which is open to all 18 combinations. All participants who finish the Grand Prix with a score of at least 58% will continue to the Grand Prix Freestyle which will be held on Saturday 18 April.
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