November 16, 2024 – Ocala, FL – The experienced Jan Ebeling (USA) sat atop the leaderboard in the Grand Prix Freestyle CDI3* on Friday, November 15, at the World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) November Dressage CDI3* presented by Hampton Green Farms.
Ebeling rode to a new freestyle compilation of Madonna and Celine Dion made by Karen Robinson to rise to the top of Friday evening’s Grand Prix Freestyle with 73.695% riding Jubi’s Tenacity, Ann Romney’s 14-year-old Tailormade Temptation gelding.
Karen Lipp, winner of the previous day’s grand prix, was runner-up with a second personal best in as many days. She rode her own Infinity, an 11-year-old by Glock’s Dream Boy, to 73.195%. Allison Carmichael rounded out the all-American podium, repeating her grand prix finish with a third place on Flying Otter Farm’s Apache son Figaro with 71.595%.
Ebeling, who grew up in Germany and moved to the USA in 1984, said, “We had practiced the new freestyle at home, but at a show it’s always different, and he was really on tonight. He had a really good season in Europe last summer and then had some time off, so I was concerned that he might be rusty yesterday in the grand prix — and he wasn’t as on as normal, but tonight he really felt the music and danced with it; it was very fun to ride.”
Their floorplan featured a line of one-time changes into a circle of two-time changes, and when those came off without a hitch, Ebeling decided to use his joker line to ride one-times directly into two-times and was very happy with how the risk/reward ratio panned out.
“Jubi is fantastic, a real worker bee. An amateur can ride him, but he’s good for a professional because you can jazz him up or calm him down,” continued Ebeling, who permanently relocated from California to Florida and appreciates the facilities on offer. “WEC is amazing for us riders. The footing, which is the most important, is incredible, and to have the air conditioning in Florida is wonderful. The stalls are great, too, and we love coming here.”
Ebeling, who has trained with Christoph Koschel for many years, has his sights set on the World Cup tour this season after a successful summer in Europe.
Bittersweet Victory
Anna Marek had a bittersweet ride on her 14-year-old Holiday to top the Intermediate I, as it will be her last. She scored 70.382% on her own Bojengel x Rhodiamant gelding, who was sold to a new home a week before the show, but the new owner let Marek take him anyway.
“Tonight was really special as Holiday is a horse I’ve owned since he was four,” she said. “I’ve shown him in national grands prix for a couple of years, but when I started getting busy with Fayvel and Fire Fly, he got put on the back burner, so I talked to my trainer Anne Gribbons about selling him and decided to give him a CDI small tour record.
“I trusted that he was going to be really good,” she added. “I’ve been with him so long, and he’s very solid; he’s such a good boy with a great mind. I’ve sold a handful of horses I’ve trained up from the bottom, and this one was the saddest. But it’s part of what I do, and I can’t afford to keep them all. Luckily, I can be careful about where they go.”
NorCordia Extends Winning Streak
Catherine Haddad, winner of Friday’s Prix St. Georges, finished second to Marek in the Intermediate I riding NorCordia’s nine-year-old mare Sola Diva to 66.5%. Another NorCordia-owned horse, Level Up D, stepped up to win Saturday’s FEI Young Rider Team test. Sweden’s Emilia Berglund Bergåkra rode the eight-year-old KWPN gelding by Skovens Rafael out of a Contango dam to 67.206% on the horse’s international debut.
CDI competition at WEC November Dressage continues on Saturday, November 16, with the feature class, the Grand Prix Special CDI3*, at 8am. Full start lists and results can be found on Equestrian Hub.
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Media Contact:
Leah Tong
leah.tong@wec.net