LEGACY, TSF Dalera BB and JL Dublin’s breeders were honoured at Bordeaux International, where the Longines WBFSH awards were presented on Saturday night. The three Paris Olympic veterans were the respective leading dressage, eventing and show jumping horses in last year’s World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) rankings.

Billed as a “prestigious prize recognising the extraordinary dedication and talent of those who breed world-class horses”, the Longines WBFSH awards were won by breeders of these top three horses: the late Silke Druckenmüller, Volker Göttsche-Götze and Romain Rotty.

Dressage

It was a poignant occasion for Thorsten Druckenmüller, who received the award on behalf of his late wife Silke, who sadly passed away in September 2023. She bred the back-to-back Olympic gold medallist TSF Dalera BB and the Trakehner mare has now topped the WBFSH dressage horse rankings for a record fourth time.

In August 2024, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl announced her Paris dual gold medallist mare’s retirement from competition after a glittering career. Owned by Beatrice Bürchler-Keller, TSF Dalera BB and Jessica won team gold and silver at European, world championship and Olympic level.

The pair were also crowned World Cup champions on two occasions (Leipzig in 2022 and again the following year in Omaha), plus individual gold at the 2023 European championships in Riesenbeck. Plus those individual gold medals at Tokyo and Paris.

‘Dancing Dalera’ and von Bredow-Werndl made their final public appearance at Basel International last month and the mare has now retired to von Bredow-Werndl’s Aubenhausen base, near Munich.

Eventing

JL Dublin is the second of two German-breds to be crowned as the top horse in the WBFSH rankings. The first foal of his Canto dam, he was originally produced by Nicola Wilson and then the ride passed to Tom McEwen following Nicola’s accident in 2022.

As a seven-year-old, JL Dublin was fifth in the WBFSH young horse eventing championships at Le Lion D’Angers and, in 2021, the pair won double gold at the European championships in Avenches.

The now 14-year-old gelding is highly rated by McEwen, who regards him as “a perfect championship horse”, on account of the horse’s prowess in dressage, cross-country and jumping phases.

How did JL Dublin finish as the top points earner in the 2024 WBFSH rankings? He and McEwen built up an unassailable lead after recording top-three results during the WBFSH calendar year, which starts each October.

Third at Pau CCI5*-L in October 2023, the British pair followed up with second place at another five-star last spring, when they placed second at Kentucky CCI5*-L. Another runner-up place at Luhmühlen CCI4*-S in June paved the way to team gold and individual fourth place at the Paris Olympics.

Volker Göttsche-Götze is the breeder of JL Dublin and the Holsteiner gelding edged out the Irish team horse and five-star winner Colorado Blue (Jaguar Mail x Rock King) to finish the 2024 rankings as the top event horse.

Show jumping

Diego Rotty acccepted the show jumping award at Bordeaux on behalf of his uncle Romain. His name is familiar by now to Irish show jumping fans, as the breeder of the Zangersheide mare Legacy (ex Chavantele Z). Her consistent form with Daniel Coyle throughout 2024 saw them start the year with two World Cup qualifier wins at Leipzig and Amsterdam.

The pair were also on the winning Irish Nations Cup team at Ocala and the runner-up team at Rome, results which helped earn their place on another Irish team, this time for the Paris Olympics.

Like JL Dublin, Legacy also competed in the WBFSH young horse championships. With Marilyn Vorsselmans, she was amongst the five-year-old contenders at Lanaken a decade ago and, the following year, jumped in the six-year-old classes there, this time with Jerom Broecks.

Her international career then took off with Coyle, with the pair winning the seven/eight-year-old international class at Dublin.

Legacy’s Belgian breeder has over 40 years of breeding experience and his approach is to breed from only the best mares. Amongst his stock is another Chippendale Z out of Cava R Z, a Coriano Z daughter of Regina, Legacy’s dam and he describes this foal as ‘unbelievable’.

Having already recognised Legacy’s potential as a young foal, Romain closely follows hers and Coyle’s international success.

Legacy (1,611 points) was the top points earner in the WBFSH show jumping horses rankings, just ahead of Paris Olympics individual gold medallist horse Checker 47 (1,595).

The trio have won a collective total of €2.3 million over the past decade with Lothlorien Farm’s Legacy being the chief earner (€1.2 million).

What they said

“For a classic Holstein horse breeder, the invitation from the WBFSH to a five-star World Cup tournament in far-away Bordeaux was a special reason to be happy. This weekend in Bordeaux filled me with happiness and pride.”

Volker Göttsche-Götze

“It is an overwhelming feeling in every respect to be a breeder standing in the middle of the arena, where the best riders of the best horses usually receive their awards. Thank you Longines for this magnificent recognition. And thank you to Brigitte Boss [equine artist], the statue is the icing on the cake of a wonderful evening.”

Thorsten Druckenmüller

“Everyone, every breeder hopes and dreams that they will ever be able to experience this [Longines WBFSH breeders award]. It’s something that you probably get only once in your life. And now, I have been granted this. I am proud of that.”

Romain Rotty

Top three horses

JL Dublin (HOLST). 2011. Diarado - Zarinna, by Canto.

Prize money won since 2015: €187,420.

Legacy (ZANG). 2010. Chippendale Z - Regina, by Bon Ami.

Prize money won since 2015: €1,249,263.

TSF Dalera BB ((TRAK) 2007. Easy Game - Dark Magic, by Handryk.

Prize money won since 2015: €898,662.