February 7, 2010 -- They were selling Super Bowl souvenirs in the West Palm Beach airport when I got off the plane, but I didn't buy any.
You see, I was more excited about the horse world's version of the Super Bowl, the $140,000 Exquis World Dressage Masters, here at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Although there were 16 competitors, I knew the top honors would go to one of only three combinations: The USA's Steffen Peters with Ravel; Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands on Salinero or Isabell Werth, the German who rides Satchmo. And I also knew that for dressage enthusiasts, it was going to be as exciting a face-off as it was for the fans who packed the stadium down in Miami to watch the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts battle it out on Super Sunday.
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- Anky van Grunsven, Isabell Werth and Steffen Peters in the round of honor
- © 2010 by Nancy Jaffer
At last year's Rolex FEI World Cup finals, Steffen defeated both Anky (though she was aboard IPS Painted Black then) and Isabell. That started him on a spectacular string of triumphs; a historic sweep of the Grand Prix, the Special and the freestyle at Aachen; his second straight U.S. Equestrian Federation Equestrian of the Year title and Ravel being voted Farnam Platform USEF Horse of the Year.
And when you consider that between them, someone said, Anky and Isabell had earned 30 Olympic, World Equestrian Games and European Championships medals (though I must confess I didn't do the math myself) you can see why this had all the indicators of a high- voltage match to remember.
The Masters, which made its U.S. debut here last year, is the world's richest dressage competition. On top of that, the Europeans and Californians had their way paid, which was quite an incentive.
I guess the appeal of the 5-star-rated Masters is obvious, but since it's a new event, I wondered about its place in the scheme of things, so I discussed that with Steffen.
Listen: Steffen Peters-
- Steffen Peters won the Grand Prix with Ravel.
- © 2010 by Nancy Jaffer
The pressure was really on Steffen, but he and Ravel looked both cool and fantastic in Thursday's Grand Prix, easily beating Anky and a tense Salinero with a score of 76.851 percent to her mark of 74.638. Isabell, who had several mistakes (she is just getting back to showing after giving birth to a son in November) was scored at 72.553 percent with some mistakes. Canada's Ashley Holzer, consistent as always with Pop Art, was fourth on 72.468 percent, the only other rider to break 70 percent.
The freestyle, for the top eight, was held on a cold and windy night (yes, they have them even in Florida) and people bundled up with blankets and parkas to watch. The excitement was heightened by the presence of 4,300 dressage devotees and those who would become devotees after seeing three of the world's best.
The first of the big stars to go, Steffen turned in a performance that wasn't quite as silken as his Grand Prix (the atmosphere was, of course, quite different) but good enough for a score of 81.700.
A highlight of Steffen's ride was doing the two-tempis one-handed (he said he didn't think it was wise to try that with the one-tempis) but he and his horse were completely in sync.
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- Isabell Werth down the centerline on Satchmo in a one-handed passage
- © 2010 by Nancy Jaffer
Isabell had a mistake when she wasn't able to complete her canter half-pass after she got too sideways and Satchmo kicked himself. I will say that her transition from the two-tempis straight into the one-tempis took my breath away--it was exciting and so well executed. Her mistake was expensive, however, and she was marked at 78.950, far ahead of Ashley, who got 76.300 to wind up fourth.
Last to go, Anky went for it with the energetic Salinero. Her "Dance of Devotion" music, composed for her horse, suits him well, but I was surprised that she was marked first by four of the five judges and scored so far ahead of Steffen's mark, at 84.450. A number of the people I chatted with afterward also were surprised; several of them (who did not have their judges' cards) thought Steffen should have won.
I tracked down U.S. judge Axel Steiner, the only official who had placed Steffen first, to ask for his analysis.
