ON paper, with his dressage horse sire, King Edward could equally have been at home entering the Omaha arena at A. Instead he won the World Cup show jumping final.

Five of the top-six horses in this year’s World Cup dressage and show jumping finals were bred in Germany, a nation that produces the largest number of sport horse foals in Europe. Yet it was the Trakehner Verband, a small studbook with 1,000 foals per annum, that produced the second of this year’s World Cup Final champions: TSF Dalera BB.

That sixth horse - King Edward - has BWP papers and a solid Hanoverian pedigree. His sire Edward 28 competed in dressage and his grandsire Embassy I is best known as a sire of eventers, such as FRH Escada and Entebbe de Hus.

King Edward’s damline is equally intriguing, as from a dozen foals produced by his dam Koningin de Lauzelle, he is the only one to have competed above 1.40m level.

All of the show jumping top-three horses have predominantly German bloodlines, including Monaco N.O.P, whose damline could equally appear in a top-drawer eventing pedigree as it features Contender I and the thoroughbred Heraldik.

Generational

Sport horse generations moves quickly on the continent. Cornet Obolensky, whose last World Cup Final appearance was at ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2012 when Flexible won, appears in third-placed Pepita Con Spita’s pedigree as her grandsire. Triple World Cup champion Baloubet du Rouet features in her dam-line.

Similarly with the dressage horses top-three, there’s a strong German influ-ence in their pedigrees, most notably through Trakehner and Hanoverian bloodlines. Bred only as riding horses throughout the breed’s history - unlike the carriage or light farm work roles of others - this year’s champion is a purebred Trakehner. Her pedigree goes back to several notable sires, including Tempelhüter, Cancara and Pythagaros.

TSF Dalera BB was only the third foal bred by Silke Druckenmüller. Wim Im-pens, who describes himself as a small-time breeder, bred King Edward. Both horses have now added a World Cup title to match their gold medal haul. This includes King Edward’s world championship individual win last year and TSF Dalera’s individual gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics where King Edward was also on the Swedish gold medal team.

Breeding is about narrowing the odds, yet sometimes after a big race or championship, a story about an unlikely-on-paper champion emerges as another winner.

Those delightful underdog stories serve another role at a time when the equestrian world is yet another under increasing scrutiny.

Images of the distinctive crowd favourites: the barefoot, Micklem bridle-wearing King Edward and a dancing TSF Dalera BB were invaluable. Aside from ‘optics’, the relatable background stories of their breeders and riders are the stuff of gold medals too in this social licence era.

2023 World Cup Champions

Show Jumping

1 - KING EDWARD (BWP). Edward 28 (HANN) - Koningin de Lauzelle (BWP), by Feo de Lauzelle (HANN). Breeder: Wim Impens. Rider: Henrik von Eckermann (SWE).

2. MONACO N.O.P (KWPN). Cassini II (HOLST) - Ulla II (HOLST), by Contender (HOLST). Breeder: Ralf Lütje. Rider: Harrie Smolders (NED).

3. PEPITA CON SPITA (WESTF). Con Spirit 7 (BAVAR) - Pamina (OS), by Come On (HOLST). Breeder: Christiane Humburg. Rider: Hunter Holloway USA).

Dressage

1 - TSF DALERA BB (TRAK). Easy Game (TRAK) - Dark Magic II (TRAK), by Handryk (TRAK). Breeder: Silke Druckenmüller. Rider: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER).

2 - BLUE HORS ZEPTER (OLD). Blue Hors Zack (KWPN) - Who’s Sunlight (OLD), by Wolkentanz II (HANN). Breeder: Bernhard Sieverding. Rider: Nanna Skodborg Merrald (DEN).

3 - DSP QUANTAZ (DSP). Stallion Quaterback (Berlin-Brand) - Piroschka 610 (Berlin-Brand) by Hohenstein (TRAK). Breeder: Kathrin Damm. Rider: Isabel Werth (GER).

Back-to-back dressage World Cup winners Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB in Omaha \ FEI/Richard Juilliart

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