It was a delight to watch the Grand Prix this afternoon, the first part of the Dutch National Championships and even more important a good indicator for our chances in Rio. The level was high and the scores were very close to each other. Edward Gal prepared Glock’s Voice (De Niro out of Rohbria stb prest by Rohdiamant, breeder W. & I. I.G.M. van Gisbergen-Sponselee from Hooge Mierde) for the National Championships and the black stallion moved expressively to a winning score: 79.500%.

This week Gal announced that he would not start Glock’s Undercover N.O.P (Ferro out of Mimosavrouwe keur pref prest sport-dr by Donnerhall, bred by M. Hendriksen-de Rijk from Lunteren) on this championships. “I am not doing Undercover a favour by riding this championships with him. I have ridden him on another terrain this week, but I felt the tension building up. And you do not know what the circumstances will be in Rio, so I opted for Voice. Voice is not affected by that tension and is in great shape. He may miss the competition rhythm, but he knows what to do. He felt great today, there is a lot more potential. That the top is so close to each other is only good in my eyes: if we can go to Rio with such a good team, you know it is worth the trip and effort and that you have a chance to win a team medal. That a great feeling!. Hans Peter Minderhoud followed closely with Glock’s Johnson TN. N.O.P. (Jazz out of Roxane keur pref prest sport-dr by Flemmingh, breeder P. van de Vleuten from St. Oedenrode) after a very strong Grand Prix. “I made a mistake myself, but for now it was good enough. The focus is on Rio, that’s why I am so glad Voice was performing well. We are going for the team, so it is great to know some can ride really high scores.”

In third place was Diederik van Silfhout with the diligent Arlando NH N.O.P. (Paddox out of Herlanda ster pref prest by Mytens xx, breeder A.J. van ‘t Klooster from Eemnes). They made a mistake in the flying changes every two strides, but excelled with a strong passage and piaffe (78.360%). Adelinde Cornelissen and the fit Jerich Parzival (Jazz out of Fidora ster pref prest by Ulft, breeder J.M. Beijer-de Kleijn from Puiflijk) scored 76.880% and a fourth place, right ahead of Madeleine Witte Vrees and the still experienced but promising Vivaldi-son Cennin (out of Vitana V. elite sport-dr by Donnerhall, breeder J.E.J. Cuppen from Someren). Emmelie Scholtens steered the KWPN-stallion Apache (UB 40 out of Tolanda elite pref by Krack C, breeder A.A. van der Koppel from Wadenoyen) to 75.600% and claimed the sixth position.