Home game for Frederic Wandres in qualifying for the Louisdor Prize stage in Hagen

“The chemistry between us is right,” says Frederic Wandres about the just eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding Veuve Clicquot. By this he not only means the chemistry between himself and the Vitalis son, but also includes his fiancé Lars Ligus. “Ville” is a joint project, says Wandres. Ligus rode the chestnut horse bred by Josef Bramlage (who also bred Vitalos FRH, although he is not related to Veuve Clicquot apart from his sire Vitalis) to Bundeschampionat silver in 2024 and presented him in the small tour with Nürnberger Burg-Pokal qualifications in 2025. He has now taken the next step towards Grand Prix with Wandres in the saddle. He won his first Intermédiaire II in Ankum at the beginning of March. Today he went one better.

For his eight years, Veuve Clicquot was already remarkably confident in the task. One particularly positive aspect was that Wandres was able to yield and follow the hand instead of having to give the gelding stability. Veuve Cliquot showed trot reinforcement with impressive impulsion thanks to the permitted frame extension (especially on the last diagonal). Overall, Wandres presented the chestnut in beautiful self-carriage and contact. Unfortunately, the activity of the hind leg did not always live up to the promise of the front leg. This was particularly noticeable in the piaffe-passage tour. In the passage, the hind leg remained weak. In the piaffe as well, and Wandres had to ask him clearly with the whip once in the A.

The walk was in time, but could have been a bit more diligent. The medium canter was at the lowest limit, but the flying change at X was beautifully ridden out. The flying changes were jumped safely and relaxed, and were also very straight. The pirouettes could be more centered in the long run.

All in all, a very harmonious round, which was scored 72.947 percent. Victory in the first Louisdor attempt for Ville.

Wandres said. “Our favorite horse Veuve Clicquot. This time I was in the saddle. He really has only just turned eight. But it was mega! He is incredibly easy to present and simply shines. When you turn onto the diagonal, he wants to go. I rarely let myself get carried away, but with Ville – you can just tell it’s more special than perhaps with one or two others I’ve had before …” And: “I hope, hope that we have a great future together!”

Whatever the outcome, after Wandres had initially said that he wanted to think about whether he would ride on Sunday, he later confirmed that he and his team, including national coach Monica Theodorescu, had decided not to ride the gelding on Sunday.

Wandres’ number two in the top three

The situation is completely different with Wandres’ second horse in the race for the Louisdor Prize tickets, the nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding Imo Pectore by Asgard’s Ibiza-Sir Donnerhall I. Wandres only took him over from “the boss”, Bianca Kasselmann, at the end of last year. “She suggested to me that this was a very promising horse and that I should get my butt in the saddle,” smiles Wandres. When he did as he was told, he very quickly realized “Oh, there’s really something in this”.

Enough in any case for the gelding to be able to do the S*** program in just a few weeks. Imo Pectore was presented at competitions last season by the Dane Valentin Munkedal, who was working at the Kasselmann stables at the time. Today was his first Intermédiaire II.

The smart chestnut, marked by his sire in terms of color and markings, presented himself sublimely and expressively in the collected trot. In contrast, the reinforcement was somewhat running. The gelding became tight in the traversal movements and was clearly behind the vertical. Imo Pectore has plenty of rhythm and impulsion in piaffe and passage. However, he still supports the front in the piaffe. The walk tour went well. The series changes were jumped safely. In the long run, the single jumps can be jumped even more loosely through the body. The same applies to the pirouettes, in which the horse still struggles a little at the moment instead of continuing to canter diligently in the bend.

72.053 percent was the leading score for a long time and eventually took third place in the gelding’s Inter II premiere.

“Theo” in second place

Isabell Werth’s stable rider Lisa Wernitznig on the impressive black stallion Majestic Taonga, Theo for short, came between Wandres and his foxes. This was the Toto Jr. son’s fourth Intermédiaire II today. He had won the other three, initially two at regional level in Wickrath and Hamminkeln and then most recently in Aachen at the international para-tournament, which also offered regular national competitions.

Theo cannot deny his grandfather Totilas in piaffe and passage. He was obviously born with a talent for these movements. Unfortunately, the contact remained firm for practically the entire test, which the stallion acknowledged by frequently opening his mouth. He scored 72.895 percent for the performance.

Young horse number two from the Werth stable should have been the Veneno son Valdiviani with Niklaas Feilzer. He was also ridden in the warm-up arena, but was then withdrawn. No reason was given.

Other pairs that stood out

Behind the solid Vaida-Girl with Bianca Nowag-Aulenbrock, who had already finished second in the Nuremberg Burg Cup at the end of last year thanks to her real riding, and who finished fourth today with 70.447 percent despite a rather dull piaffe-passage tour, was a pair from southern Germany who actually just wanted to see where they stood: Nicole Casper and Zabalou. The son of Zalando has a lot of talent for piaffe and passage, but was unfortunately often ridden narrowly and clearly backwards today, which also affected the balance in the pi and pa tour. However, he has three exceptionally good basic gaits and showed himself to be very confident in the Grand Prix exercises despite his tight head and neck set-up. The “let’s see where we stand” turned into 69.711 percent and thus a strong fifth place.

One of the most talented and beautifully presented horses in the field is the Oldenburg stallion Vitally PCH by Vitalis out of Weihegold. Vitalis out of Weihegold. He too is only eight years old. But just like the winner Veuve Clicquot, he and his trainer and rider Anna Schölermann are such a well-rehearsed team that they showed better self-carriage than the majority of the field. However, the pair made a few mistakes today. In the first passage, the dark chestnut horse had to clop, but still found the transition and the beat in the piaffe. In the piaffe at A, he lost his balance a little at the “rail”. In walk, the pair clearly deviated from the intended line. In medium canter, the stallion initially jumped against the hand a few times. In the left pirouette he briefly lost the clear three-beat rhythm and in the two-up changes he did not jump the penultimate one in front. On the last centerline he seemed to run out of energy in the passage. But what a beautifully ridden horse that has everything a Grand Prix horse needs in terms of elasticity, diligence, suppleness, willingness to collect and willingness to perform. Today it was exactly 69 percent and seventh place.

The young horses of riders who have already ridden championships for Germany are always eagerly awaited. This was the case today for Benjamin Werndl, who presented the nine-year-old For Romance I son Fosbury. “Fussel” gave his rider an uncharacteristic amount to do in the saddle today. This Oldenburg also shows some talent for the Grand Prix exercises, but was too nervous today in his first appearance in front of a large crowd to show his potential. He was 13th with 66.947 percent.

Has there ever been a Lusitano at the Louisdor Prize? Probably not. But this year Maxi Kira von Platen presented the nine-year-old Nuelo das Lezirias, a beautiful representative of the Portuguese bullfighting breed. The stallion is not only beautiful, he also has exceptional movement potential for this breed. He had already won an Intermédiaire I last year in Hagen in June and has already won two Intermédiaire IIs this year. But today he was under too much tension to be able to show his full potential. His walk in particular suffered as a result. When he cantered, he “bumped” the curb bit once (although the contact was otherwise very fine) and started to climb. He then changed his mind. But the rider needed a few seconds to find the forward gait. She turned into a volte and rode the task to the end. The fact that they still had real highlights such as the series changes in the canter testifies to the stallion’s character. However, the moment after cantering was also reflected in the foot marks. Added to this was the deduction for the unavoidable volte, so that this time no more than 63.868 percent was possible. So no reunion with this pair on Sunday either. But hopefully on another occasion.

You can find all the results here.