03 May 2025

Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth Old , leader of the German team, victorious in the FEI Nations Cup at Compiègne.

Germany has never before won the Nations Cup at the Internationaux de Dressage of Compiègne, despite dominating the discipline for several decades. An anomaly corrected on Saturday at the Grand Parc Equestrian stadium thanks to the Paris 2024 Olympic team gold medallist, Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth Old, who were also the individual winners of the Ville de Compiègne Grand Prix with an impressive score of 75.696%, Mathias Alexander Rath on Destacado FRH (3rd with 71.239), Raphael Netz on Dieudonne, and Carina Scholz on Blue Horse Veneziano. ‘’We've finally got this victory, all we need now is champagne to celebrate,’’ smiled Germany’s team leader Monica Theodorescu.

The only French leg of the prestigious FEI Nations Cup circuit, the outcome at Compiègne was particularly unpredictable in this post-Olympic year, with many teams significantly changed. Already winners of the first stage in Wellington, Germany has taken advantage of this context and succeeds Denmark, the winners of the last two editions. ‘‘It's an important win here, because Nations Cups are major rendezvous,’’ continued the German team leader. ‘‘There's always a lot more pressure than in a Grand Prix. It's also a great opportunity to integrate new riders and new horses. This year we had Mathias and Frederic, who both have a lot of experience, but also two who are less experienced. Mathias' horse has improved a lot and is more powerful. He’s got huge potential and it was a very good test. And of course I'm very happy with Frederic and Bluetooth. The pair continue to progress. It was their first outdoor competition since the Olympic Games. I love France and I love this competition in this magnificent park. The work undertaken over the last few years has further improved the facilities, with perfect arenas. It lacks nothing.’’

Accumulating a total of 215.522, Germany led in front of Portugal who showed consistency with three pairs scoring between 69.326 and 69.848. The Netherlands, led by Marlies van Baalen and Habibi DVB, second in the individual competition (72.522), completed the podium.

France is already thinking about the future

 Third last year in Compiègne and fifth at the Olympic Games, France was undoubtedly hoping for better results here with two of its Olympic pairs in the team. Sixteenth in the Freestyle Grand Prix at Versailles, Pauline Basquin and Sertorius Rima Z IFCE had to settle for sixth place with the modest score of 69.413. Alexandre Ayache and Jolène also fell short of their usual standard (14th, with 67.587). In their first selection for the French team, Bernard Bosseaux on Rilkadora Z and Caroline Godin on Querida de Hus had rather tricky debuts with 65.348 and 64.370%. ‘’ For every country, post-Olympic years are difficult,’’ noted French selector Jean Morel. We performed well in Paris and that shook everyone up. We need to come back down to earth. Obviously, there's no cause for alarm. We had two new horses. They performed well without making any mistakes, even if there were inevitably a few things missing. We're going to try out a lot of things throughout the season. We need to give everyone a chance. We'll be ready for the World Championships at Aachen in 2026, which are qualifiers for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. That's all I live and breathe for. To enable the riders to be calm and confident, so that we can get a foot on the podium." 

CDI 3*: The Marseillaise for Alexandre Ayache

At the start of the day, in the CDI 3* ARC (Agglomération de la Région Compiègne) Grand Prix Special, France's Alexandre Ayache confirmed the natural ability of his 11-year-old mare, Ruling Olivia, already second on Friday in the Barriquand Grand Prix. With a score of 68.830%, he finished ahead of Spain's Claudio Castilla Ruiz on Jota das Figueiras (67.979) and the Netherlands' Liesbeth Geven on Iago (66.021). “I'm very pleased with the mare,” said the French rider. ‘’The feeling is still strange with high scores and other low ones. The staff's instructions for her are clear: no pressure. There are lots of things that are less spectacular than last year, but overall it's prettier, and that’s what we’re looking for. Yesterday's second place with this new rule was still in my head ” (the same final score but beaten on the final collective score by Germany's Paulina Holzknecht, who was eliminated this Saturday). ‘‘and I ‘d said that today would be my day! I have high hopes for this mare, who is still only at 50% of her potential. Plus, she's a teddy bear. Next she'll probably do a 3* in Eastern Europe, followed by either a stage of the World Cup, still in the East, or the French Championships (29th of May to the 1st of June, in Vierzon). We already have Los Angeles in mind and, given her age, it's more likely to be Olivia or another young horse rather than Jolène (13 years old). We're going to bring Olivia up gently without putting the cart before the horse... which is my speciality. But I'm getting wiser with age.”

At the end of the day, Portugal's Carlos Pinto on Joolz de la Gesse (70.445) won the Grand Prix Freestyle Département de l'Oise of this CDI 3*, ahead of Dutch rider Tosca Visser van der Meulen on Jackson (69.710).

CDIY, CDI 1*, CDI U25, CDIJ, CDIch, CDIP 

Dominating Friday's first class in the CDIY (Young Riders), Mathilde Juglaret once again won over the judges with her 9-year-old mare, Lightning Star. Scoring 72.892, she finished ahead of Micky Scheltraete of the Netherlands on Venicia Old (70.588). ‘I'm delighted because my performance was even better than yesterday’s,’’ confided the 21-year-old French rider, who won a bronze medal at the 2022 European Junior Championships. Fourth on Friday in the CDI 1* Prix St-Georges, Spain's Juan Matute Guimon on Formentor showed himself to be the best in the Prix Intermediate I ARC (68.971). In the CDIU25, Lara Van Nek with All at Once was the most convincing rider in the Grand Prix Libre Région Hauts de France (76.233). In the Juniors, already victorious the day before, Dutch Britt Kikkert-Van der Linde won again with Jerenzo Texel (69.040). The best French performance came from Paola Callet and Quickly des Paluds, who claimed third place (68.824). In the Children's class, Dutch rider Floor Kulik on Bella Rosa (80.236) beat French rider Ninon Dupuy Pelardy on Dancielle de Malleret (70.621). Finally, in the ponies' category, another German double was claimed by Leni-Sophie Gosmann on Diamantini EA WE (73.108) ahead of her compatriot Mats Buck (Assenmachers Gentleman NRW). 

Startlist & results: click here.