With 77.049 percentage points, Most Wanted Nero won the Small Final for seven-year-olds at the FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses, presented by Almased Wellness GmbH. Zewano OLD and Nashville SW took second and third place. The top three in the Small Final secured the last three tickets to the World Championship Final in the Horse24 Arena on Sunday.
‘I am thrilled with the progress this horse has made over the past twelve months,’ gushed the winner's rider, Leonie Richter. ‘I got Nero a year ago. He has such a great work ethic, and on top of that he has charisma and beauty – he made us very proud today.’ Nero was more relaxed in the Small Final, especially in the walk, than in the qualifiers. ‘The walk still wasn't as good as it can be; he has an 8-beat walk, but he wasn't able to show that here in the World Championships arena.’ He received a 6.8 for his walk. ‘Today, the trot was also much more fluid and through the body; on the first day, it was still a bit shaky,’ Leonie Richter continued. ‘The trot gives you a great feeling anyway. You just have to sit down and tense up, then the whole horse closes and starts to swing.’ The trot was awarded a score of 8.8, the canter was rated 8.9, the submission 8.3 and the perspective 8.4, giving a final quality score of 82.40. The winner received 71.429 and 71.964 percentage points for the technical execution of the lessons. The overall result: 77.049 percentage points.
Like many stallions at the World Championships, Most wanted Nero is used for breeding, yet he is hard to beat in terms of his calmness when handling. ‘He is so uncomplicated and not at all stallion-like – that's great,’ enthuses Leonie Richter. The uncomplicated horse was bred by Morricone out of a Donnerball dam by C.J. Bruin and is owned by the MJS Gestüt von Bellin.
Zewano OLD and Nashville SW in the final
The Zackery son Zewano OLD, ridden by Franz Trischberger, came second with 76.977 percentage points. Zewano's dam's sire is Blue Hors Romanov. Alessandro Alemani bred the Oldenburg horse, which is owned by Sandra and Norbert Nuxoll. Zewano's result is made up of the following quality scores: 8.4 for trot and canter, 8.8 for walk, 8.1 for submission and 8.5 for perspective. The pair received 68.571 and 70.536 percentage points in the technical scores, giving them an overall result of 76.977 percent.
Nashville SW is competing in the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses for the third time, and this is the first time he has made it to the final. Under Dutch rider Femke de Laat, he received the highest mark in this test for trot with 9.0. The other individual scores in the quality assessment were 6.5 for the walk, 8.3 for the canter, 8.0 for submission and 8.2 for perspective. In addition, he received 71.607 and 72.321 percentage points for technical execution, resulting in a final score of 75.982 percentage points. Nashville is a son of Secret, was bred by Stal Willig VOF out of Esina, a daughter of Jazz, and is owned by Marco Te Brake.
All three will compete in the final for seven-year-olds on Sunday at 10 a.m. in the Horse24 Arena, where a total of 15 finalists will present themselves. About three hours later, it will be clear which horses have earned the World Championship medals.
