(left) Peters and Ravel perform flawless test in Las Vegas. Beautiful performances had already attracted the eye before Peters and Ravel entered the arena in the Thomas and Mack centre in Las Vegas.

The first to go over the 70% threshold was Jan Brink riding his 18 year old stallion Briar for the eighth time in a FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final. After Brink seven more riders crossed this line. Pop Art showed by Canadian Ashley Holzer Art impressed by the great picture combined with fluency and impulsion, especially in the collections in the piaffe and pirouettes. The big Nartan showed by his petite rider Jeannette Haazen did a very even test and showed great extensions. The mare Exquis Nadine, placed fifth individually with his rider Hans Peter Minderhoud at the Olympic Games, floated uphill and showed very impressive extensions. Monica Theodorescu had a fluent performance aboard Whisper, leaving only her extended walk for the five judges to question, as both the mark 5 as the mark 9 had been given.

Isabell Werth riding her Olympic silver medal horse Satchmo had a wonderful start with highlights in the beginning of her test with the half passes in trot and the extensions. However she had a mistake in counting the one tempi changes and did 17 instead of 15. Overall, it looked as though she was riding a bit with the handbrake on as Satchmo easily is distracted. Immediately after Werth, Anky van Grunsven entered the arena riding the black stallion IPS Painted Black. For the audience it was quite exciting to compare Anky’s score with the leader board of Isabell’s scores. As IPS Painted Black had a mistake in the two tempi changes, in the very end at the point of the last centerline with passage and piaffe the scores of Werth and Van Grunsven were equal at 73,0%. In the end, Anky took the lead due to the last passage rewarded with an eight by all judges. The excitement rose as Steffen Peters from his start took over the lead with the impressive and powerful Ravel combining his incredible lightness and impulsion with relaxation and the perfect focus on his rider. All the excitement concluded with his well deserved clear win. All expectations are open again for the Freestyle which will conclude the 24th Rolex FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final on Saturday.

Quotes:
Steffen Peters: “My emotions are hard to describe. I am beside myself. I honestly kept looking up to the scoreboard to see whether this really happened. Ravel was fantastic. I didn’t have to push him. His only focus was me! He offered everything!”
And to the pressure now to perform this well again for the Freestyle on Saturday: “Anky advised me about that in Wellington at the World Dressage Masters where I won the Grand Prix as well. My mistake there was that I didn’t stick to my routine. So my plan now for Saturday is just to stick to my routine and do nothing special. I feel confident as Ravel has showed that he only focuses on me whatever reactions the crowd will give. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

Jan Brink: “I didn’t push Briar to the limit today. He still feels very happy to enter the arena and do his job. I am looking forward to perform our Freestyle on my ‘number one’ music. It will be a fitting farewell and no doubt which horse ever will come Briar will stay my number one.”

The winner of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in Las Vegas 2007 Isabell Werth: “This time I liked to give Satchmo the chance to compete in Las Vegas. I love the audience here, however I felt a bit disturbed by the photographers. Therefore I rode more careful in a pirouette as I noticed Satchmo was distracted by the camera noise.”

Nine time winner Anky van Grunsven: “After the Olympic Games I definitely needed time to find a new goal. I found it in competing with IPS Painted Black. This is a new challenge and today this was my best Grand Prix of the season.”

Chair Maribel Alonso de Quinzanos: “We as judges have not given any ten to Steffen Peters and Ravel but we have marked him with an incredible number of eight’s and nine’s. His effortless test looked incredibly easy and smooth.”

Minna Telde: “I was very happy with my horse Don Charly but not too happy with myself, as the mistake in the zig zag half passes was totally mine.”

Results:
1. Ravel - Steffen Peters (USA) 77,915%
2. IPS Painted Black – Anky van Grunsven (NED) 74,170%
3. Satchmo – Isabell Werth (GER) 73,745%
4. Exquis Nadine – Hans Peter Minderhoud (NED) 73,064%
5. Pop Art – Ashley Holzer (CAN) 72,511%
6. Nartan – Jeannette Haazen (NED) 70,383%
7. Whisper – Monica Theodorescu (GER) 70,170%
8. Bjorsells Briar – Jan Brink (SWE) 70,043%
9. Don Charly – Minna Telde (SWE) 68,979%
10. Randon – Michal Rapcewicz (POL) 68,128%
11. Regardez Moi – Heath Ryan (AUS) 64,638%
12. Diamore – Marco Bernal (COL) 62,553%
13. Rafalco – Jan Ebeling (USA) 53,830%
14. Kingston – Leslie Morse (USA) DISQ