Merveldt Finishes 25Th In Historic European Championship Contest

IRISH dressage rider Anna Merveldt and her 13 year-old gelding ‘Coryolano’ finished in 25th place in today’s (Thursday) Grand Prix Special at Windsor, England.

Having qualified for the European Championships competition in Wednesday’s Grand Prix, the 46 year-old found herself in the middle of an historic contest where the standard became so high that a new world record was set and shattered within 15 minutes. Adelinde Cornelissen from the Netherlands won Gold in the competition with “Parzival’ on an unprecedented score of 85.209 per cent. Her Dutch team-mate, Edward Gal, had previously set a new world record at 81.042 per cent with ‘Moorlands Totilas’, but it was a short-lived moment in the spotlight as Cornelissen trumped it in a spectacular last-to-go test.. Ground Jury President Stephen Clarke from Great Britain put it in perspective afterwards when he said “I’ve judged a few championships in my time but I’ve never seen sport like this. This was the greatest moment in dressage history – we’ve never seen riders performing at such a level before and now the sport is wide open – anyone can win. I want to applaud the courage of the riders who rode so brilliantly under pressure – this was an outstanding day,” he added.