Maimarkt Tournament Mannheim 2026: Werth and Viva Gold win ahead of Simone Pearce/Will Marq and Thomas Wagner/Escolar's Emil

Isabell Werth won the Grand Prix with Viva Gold at the Maimarkt-Turier in Mannheim. The ten-year-old chestnut stallion showed a test which – apart from two faults – looked a little as if he wanted to say to his colleague Wendy in the stable’s internal competition: “Don’t be so sure of being number one”. Apart from a two-legged flying canter change at the end of the strong canter over the diagonal and a fault in the 15 single changes, the Vivaldi son completed the task with an aplomb that soon had to be described as casual. The last of all, the 15th of the flying changes from jump to jump, did not work.

Pirouettes as you rarely see them

Among the highlights were the two canter pirouettes, the first of which, the left pirouette, was actually jumped on the famous saucer of the mocha cup. And the word “jumped” should be followed by an exclamation mark! Because although he turned 360 degrees in the smallest of spaces, the imposing dark chestnut did not lose the clear canter jump for the slightest moment in this lesson of the highest collection.

Many highlights

Another highlight was the strong walk. Long strides, the horse looking for contact, striding safely – just as the protocols ideally state. There was hardly anything better to do.

The transitions from the passage into the piaffe and back into the passage were further eye-catching moments of this ride. Flowing, energetic, expressive in the foreleg with a lowered croup. The Oldenburg chestnut stallion, grandson of Isabell Werth’s Weihegold, even makes life a little difficult for himself. Because he shows the piaffe in a small space, he sometimes gets a little overweight towards the front.

If they wanted to work on nuances, Viva Gold should keep her neck even more stable when backing up in the future. The judges were unanimous in their rankings. They all saw the pair in first place. However, there were large differences in the percentages. The side judges were euphoric, especially Sven-Günther Rothenberger, who awarded 79.13 percentage points for E. And for B, where French rider Raphael Saleh was seated, it was also 78.696 percent. Katrina Wüst gave the lowest score in the H class. But even that was still a whopping 75 percent.

Strong Pi/Pa tour by Simone Pearce and Will Marq

The final result, 77.087 percent, not only meant victory in the dressage stadium in Mannheim, but also a gap of no less than exactly 5 percentage points to the runner-up!

And this runner-up was the Australian Simon Pierce with Will Marq, who is also only ten years old. This Spanish-bred gelding is a real passenger and piaffier machine. Unbelievably consistent. Unbelievably even in the entire trot tour with wide-crossing trot traversals as well as in passages and piaffe. Always with a swinging back, always with a stable contact, always the neck, the highest point. And the transitions between piaffe and passage were also among the best that could be seen in the arena in Mannheim on this sunny day.

A little more energy would be good

What Will Marq was not quite born with, or may be due to his age and therefore his lack of strength: energy in canter. The gelding is sure-footed, but one would wish the changes in series to be straighter and, above all, the pirouettes make you gasp inside. This is because the big dark bay’s 360-degree turns are more on the verge of slow motion. 72.087 percent meant second place for the Australian and the horse, which is owned by her boyfriend, the Swiss show jumper Martin Fuchs.

Escolar’s Emil delivers

Thomas Wagner and Escolar’s Emil were finalists in the Louisdor Prize and are certainly among the most impressive appearances in the arena at the moment. The powerful Escolar son, bred from a Contender dam, impressed in many lessons and scored 70.652 percent.

At one point or another, one would have wished for a little more balance in the hind leg, for example in the first piaffe. But these things are probably a question of strength. Overall, one had the impression that Wagner was aiming for a calm round, so that one or two more points will certainly be added in the further course of this Escolar son’s career.

Müller’s double strike

Fourth place in this test went to Lisa Müller in the saddle on Mondrian. The Millennium son had expressive moments in the piaffe and passage. In the canter, however, especially in the series changes, he was not always optimal in front of the driving aids. This resulted in a tipping of the neck, so that the horse completed this lesson well behind the vertical. The combination of Bavarian rider and Hanoverian horse scored 69.739 percent.

Müller had already come out of the arena with her second horse D’Avie with a score of 69.174 percent. That was sixth place in the final standings.

Carina Harnisch came fifth with Sheldon Cooper. The combination, also once placed in the final of the Louisdor Prize, scored 69.41 3 percent.

Results of the Grand Prix Maimarkt Tournament, Mannheim 2026