(Neumünster) Mario Stevens was all smiles. The professional rider from Molbergen in Lower Saxony won his first Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Grand Prix, which was at the same time the 70 th edition of this international tournament. Dressage rider Jessica von Bredow-Werndl from Aubenhausen/Bavaria was in the spotlight only three hours before when she and her mare TSF Dalera BB took the top honours in the Grand Prix Freestyle, Prize of VR Bank Neumünster, and with it in the FEI Dressage World Cup, just in time for her 34 th birthday.

Happy Stevens
It was the first time that the former German Champion Mario Stevens won the main event at the 70 th edition of the international tournament VR CLASSICS. “It is something particularly stunning if you succeed with a home-bred horse,” emphasized the 38 years old professional rider from Lower Saxony. However, the result was not necessarily to be expected because of the horses. “Mario’s horse is normally slower than mine, but his performance was simply better today and he deserved to win,” former double European Champion Marco Kutscher from Bad Essen/North Rhine-Westphalia summarized after his ride with Charco to second place. Kutscher had already captured victory at the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Grand Prix in Neumünster in 2013. Patrick Stühlmeyer from Mühlen/Lower Saxony took third place with the stallion Varihoka du Temple, thus satisfying his boss, VR Classics organizer Paul Schockemöhle.
Thanks to this success, Stühlmeyer managed to finish third in the BEMER Riders Tour, while Stevens even secured second place in this series. It was the first time that the final stage of the BEMER Riders Tour was held in Neumünster with Nisse Lüneburg from Hetlingen/Schleswig-Holstein taking convincing victory.

Three times “W” on the dressage podium
“She was very motivated, almost a little too much, but she is getting better and better,” said von Bredow-Werndl after her amazing victory in Neumünster. Her brother Benjamin and defending World Cup champion Isabell Werth were her main competitors. But as Jessica von Bredow-Werndl will not participate in the Finals of the series in Las Vegas, Benjamin Werndl and Helen Langehanenberg are the ones with the best prospects to qualify apart from Isabell Werth. All three riders were enthusiastic about the audience in the Holstenhallen, the atmosphere in the sold-out arena and the lively cheers after each presentation.
Isabell Werth (Rheinberg) rode her Emilio to a personal best of 88.45% and to second place. The world’s best dressage rider and her 14-year-old Westphalian gelding shined with faultless piaffe pirouettes and particularly difficult movements in a row. Third place went to Helen Langehanenberg (Billerbeck). The petite Westphalian rider steered her 18-year-old obviously highly motivated Hanoverian Damsey FRH to third place and 85.22%. “I will also compete in s’Hertogenbosch,” announced the rider who holds third place in the overall World Cup rankings behind Benjamin Werndl. Five horse/rider duos earned results of 80% and more in the FEI Dressage World Cup which underlines the performance density in Neumünster.

New visitor record
VR CLASSICS have chalked up a new all-time high with 39,900 visitors attending the event on all four days. Never before were the indoor arenas one, four and five that crowded. “The increase is particularly due to Friday,” explained Bettina Schockemöhle, head of the Organizing Committee. There were significantly more spectators in the Holstenhallen in the morning and in the afternoon than in previous years. It was hardly possible to still buy a ticket on Saturday and Sunday, because the Dressage World Cup and the show jumping competitions were that popular. The Organizing Committee is looking forward to 2021 when the VR Classics will be held from February 18 – 21.

Results VR CLASSICS
4 CDI-W – FEI Grand Prix freestyle with music – Prize of VR Bank Neumünster
1. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (Tuntenhausen) with TSF Dalera BB 448.20
2. Isabell Werth (Rheinberg) with Emilio 107 442.25
3. Helen Langehanenberg (Billerbeck) with Damsey FRH 426.10
4. Benjamin Werndl (Tuntenhausen) with Famoso OLD 425.83
5. Adelinde Cornelissen (Netherlands) with Zephyr 410.75
6. Sönke Rothenberger (Bad Homburg) with Santiano R 396.43

10 CSI3* – International world ranking class, 2 rounds, Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Grand Prix
1. Mario Stevens (Molbergen) with Landano OLD *0.00 / 33.93
2. Marco Kutscher (Bad Essen) with Charco 2 *0.00 / 33.96
3. Patrick Stühlmeyer (Steinfeld) with Varihoka Du Temple *0.00 / 34.15
4. Markus Renzel (Oer-Erkenschwick) with C-Steffra *0.00 / 34.59
5. Markus Brinkmann (Herford) with Pikeur Dylon *0.00 / 35.48
6. Angelique Rüsen (Herborn) with Arac du Seigneur *0.00 / 35.56

15 National dressage competition advanced level (S***) – Grand Prix Special – presented by Frank Hasselberg,
Steuerberatung
1. Charlott-Maria Schürmann (Gehrde) with Burlington FRH 1829.50
2. Juliane Burfeind (Harsefeld) with Devanto 1814.50
3. Insa Hansen (Hagen am Teutoburger Wald) with Rebroff 6 1750.50
4. Emma Kanerva (Stade/Finland) with Riverdance 66 1729.10
5. Rainer Schwiebert (Kattendorf) with Helenenhof’s Catoo 1695.00
6. Petra Van Esch (AL Gemonde/ Netherlands) with Fiji 1677.00

8 CSI3* – International time jumping (1.45 m) – Prize of Stadtwerke Neumünster
1. Cecilie Hatteland (Aarhus/Denmark) with Jaleo van het Heuvelland 0.00 / 47.31
2. Clarissa Crotta (Ahaus/ Switzerland) with Vincent 168 0.00 / 49.36
3. Janne-F. Meyer-Zimmermann (Pinneberg) with Lima 47 0.00 / 49.54
4. Hans-Thorben Rüder (Greven) with Cilley Rose 0.00 / 50.16
5. Linn Hamann (Ammersbek) with Crystal Clear 0.00 / 50.61
6. Stefan Jensen (Bosbüll) with Cyrus L. 0.00 / 51.05

13 CSI-YH1* International two-phase jumper class (1.4 m) for 7-8 year-old horses, sh:z presents: final Theurer
Trucks Youngster-Cup
1. Willem Greve (Netherlands), Highway M TN, 0/ 28,76
2. Harm Lahde (Blender), Oak Grove`s Commander Bond 0/ 29,47
3. Angelique Rüsen (Marl), Calvino 0/ 29,79
4. Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann (Pinneberg), Quim 0/ 30,48
5. Pheline Ahlmann (Reher), Clintello 0/ 30,90
6. Finja Bormann (Königslutter), Grey Chester 0/ 31,13

9 CSI3* – International world ranking class incl. jump-off (1.5 m), Prize of BEMER Int.AG
1. Nisse Lüneburg (Hetlingen) with Look at me R *0.00 / 38.23
2. Felix Haßmann (Lienen) with Cayenne WZ *0.00 / 38.37
3. Patrick Stühlmeyer (Steinfeld) with Quincy 230 *0.00 / 38.93
4. Katharina Offel (NC Bemelen) with Elien *0.00 / 39.28
5. Eoin Mcmahon (Riesenbeck/Ireland) with My Kiwi *0.00 / 42.13
6. Katrin Eckermann (Sassenberg) with Caleya *4.00 / 37.95

24 National jumper class/points advanced level (S*) with joker and costume (1.4 m), SWN Cup
1. Teike Carstensen (Sollwitt) with Ella von Kielslück 65.00 / 50.54
2. Robin Naeve (Bovenau) with Casalia R 65.00 / 51.41
3. Stefan Jensen (Bosbüll) with Chiron 25 65.00 / 52.65
4. Karl-Friedrich Matthiessen (Heide) with Zypria M 65.00 / 54.71
5. Tim Markus (Wasbek) with Calinero 7 19.00 / 50.81