Las Vegas to host battle of dressage giants

Two of the world’s greatest ever equine dressage stars could go head-to-head at the Reem Acra FEI World Cup final in Las Vegas next April.

Nemesis

Valegro versus Totilas is the re-match all dressage fans have been waiting for since the two superstars last met at Aachen in July.

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegromade a few uncharacteristic mistakes at the CHIO show in Germany to end their unbeaten run, while Totilas produced the winning score of 82.300%, when piloted by Mattias Rath.

The German combination then missed out the World Equestrian Games when Totilas injured himself, so Vegas will be the first opportunity for World, European and Olympic champions toprove themselves against their nemesis.

Massive mark

The World Cup is by no means a two-horse race, however. Other riders hoping to take the title include Totilas’ former rider Edward Gal, who won the first leg of the World Cup 2014/15 series in Odense, Denmark over the weekend (19 October).

The top three riders all scored in the eighties, but it was Edward’s impressive performance onboard Glock’s Undercover which saw him win the competition, with a massive mark of 88.625%.

In second place were Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival (84.300%) – who won the World Cup in 2011 and 2012. Isabell Werth came third (80.275%) riding Don Johnson.

Battle it out

With scores this high, the questions remains can the current World Cup champions defend their title next year? And will we get to see Valegro and Totilas battle it out for the top spot?

The next leg of the World Cup series takes place in Lyon on 31 October.