Successful debut in Łódź, Poles and Lithuanians in great shape – recapping the 3rd stage of Perlage CAVALIADA Tour

The third stage of the Perlage CAVALIADA Tour is now behind us, which for the first time in the history of this event was organized in the city of Łódź. 177 riders from 16 countries with 254 horses galloped through Atlas Arena, and more than 15 000 spectators took their seats in the stands. Time to summarize the Łódź stop of the Tour and take a look at the rankings ahead of the grand finale in Kraków.

Perlage CAVALIADA Tour

47 pairs competed in the stage V of Perlage CAVALIADA Tour – Friday’s Big Tour competition, for the prize of the Perlage brand and under the patronage of the City of Łódź. The 145 cm course, set by course designer Marco Hesse from Germany, was cleared by 19 pairs from 5 countries, including 8 from Poland.

The fight in the final jump-off was fierce. Due to the number of starters no one could be sure of the placings and riders had to take risks, which often resulted in knockdowns. Ultimately, the best round belonged to the representative of Lithuania – Andrius Petrovas, riding Qarath van Paebroek Z.

„I feel amazing. Qarath jumped great, he’s quite big and sensitive, but now I feel he’s starting to be really competitive. CAVALIADA shows are always nice to compete at, the audience is really great and supportive.” – said Petrovas.

Second place went to Germany’s Marvin Jüngel with Helene 50, and third to Jarosław Skrzyczyński riding Komboy, just 0.42 seconds behind the winner.

In Sunday’s VI stage – the Perlage CAVALIADA Tour Grand Prix of Łódź, counting the world ranking, for the prize of the Perlage brand and under the patronage of the City of Łódź – 37 horse-and-rider pairs from twelve countries took part. The first course at the height of 150 cm, featuring 13 obstacles including a double and a triple combination, was not an easy one.

Once again, Polish representatives showed their strength, as among the ten pairs qualified for the jump-off, as many as six represented the home nation, and victory went to Jarosław Skrzyczyński with 11-year-old gelding Komboy. This victory was almost “in the air” at Atlas Arena – as the rider was third in Friday's Big Tour, second in Saturday's Medium Tour Final, and today he went “all in” and stood on the highest step of the podium.

“I feel good – finally. I was third here before, then second, and now finally I’m first,” said Skrzyczyński. “I had a slightly different plan between the first two fences, but then everything worked out as it should. Cavaliada fans are wonderful and I can always count on them.”

Second place went to Wojciech Wojcianiec with Aliean Zin’Galeriani, third to Dawid Skiba riding Odilon van het Bevrijdthof, and fourth to Marek Lewicki with Quadis II. All four scored a “double clear”.

The leader of the Perlage CAVALIADA Tour with 42 points remains the Polish champion Maksymilian Wechta. Second place belongs to Marek Lewicki with 40 points, and Jarosław Skrzyczyński has moved up to third with 35 points. Fourth is Rikke Heineking from Denmark with 32 points, and last season’s CAVALIADA Tour winner, Germany’s Harm Lahde, sits in fifth with 31 points. Everything will be decided in Kraków, and emotions will reach their peak, as points in the final Grand Prix will be doubled.

It is also worth mentioning the third world ranking competition, not counting towards the Tour – Saturday’s Medium Tour final, for the prize of BOŚ BANK and under the patronage of Baborówko Equestrian Association – where Friday’s winner Andrius Petrovas from Lithuania once again confirmed his great form, this time taking the win with Rowin van de Brouwershoeve. Just behind him was Skrzyczyński on Inturido, and the Top 3 was completed by Fleur Holleman from the Netherlands with 14-year-old Cataque du Haut Breil.

Perlage CAVALIADA Future

In the Saturday MINI category class of Perlage CAVALIADA Future, victory went to Nell Klupś riding Pasjonata Parys. Second place was taken by Helena Lubońska with S-Piorun, with Hanna Filkiewicz finishing third with Junior.

In the V stage of the MIDI category, the win belonged to Konstancja Dziedzińska of riding Vulcano. Amelia Marszałek from KJ Stajnia Przylesie Borzęta finished second with Heeterveen’s Julia’s Luna, while Sara Wnuczko took third place aboard Falco.

Kacper Seroczyński riding Flora PK was the best one in Sunday’s MINI category class. Second place went to Helena Lubońska with S-Piorun, and third place to Natalia Czyżyk-Zahiu and her mare Mela.

The leader in this category before the final competition in Kraków is Nell Klupś with 36 points. Second place belongs to Kacper Seroczyński with 30 points, and third place is shared by Otylia Reimann and Helena Lubońska with 21 points each.

Blanka Pellowska riding Corbinian won the VI stage in the MIDI category. She was followed closely by Zuzanna Sasin riding Juultje, and Konstancja Dziedzińska with Vulcano came in third.

Pellowska leads the MIDI table with a total of 36 points. Konstancja Dziedzińska is in second place, 5 points behind, and Sara Wnuczko is in third place with 25 points to her account.

Respect Energy Open Tour

The final competition of the Respect Energy Open Tour in the Gold category, for the prize of Nuba Equi, ended with a win by Maria Glonek riding Sherlock van’t Heike. Milena Sołtysiak was the runner-up on Checkalito S, while Hungary’s Nóra Forgács took home the third place with Independence Touch BBA.

Maria Glonek is now the leader of the standings in this category with 53 points. Hubert Prasek sits in second with 48 points, followed by Aleksandra Lewicka in third with 45 points.

Szymon Cieślak riding Con Shapo Ba triumphed in the final of the Respect Energy Open Tour Silver category, under the patronage of TVP Sport. Julia Tybulczuk finished second with Constantine M, while Marta Wójtowicz was third with Calmette-P.

The winner leads the standings in his category ahead of the Kraków final with 53 points. Anna Kłosowska sits in second place with 45 points, and Julia Tybulczuk is third with 44 points.

In the final of the Respect Energy Open Tour Bronze category, under the patronage of Grupa MTP, Maja Głoskowska riding Atos claimed victory. Magdalena Kozłowska finished second riding Qanvas St. Hubertushoeve, while Anna Błażewicz completed the top three on Chaccmo RT.

The leader of the standings in this category is Zuzanna Dziak with 49 points. Julia Banasik trails her by five points, and Ignacy Luboński by six.

CAVALIADA Eventing Tour

The highlight of Thursday evening was the CAVALIADA Eventing Tour competition, for the prize of the Polish Equestrian Federation. Much to the surprise of the fans, the leader and current Olympic champion, Germany's Michael Jung, made a mistake in the order of the course in the first round and was unable to compete in the decisive second round, which was contested by 6 of the 12 competing horse-and-rider combinations. Ultimately, Mathies Rüder, proved his excellent form and galloped to victory aboard Poynstown Porsch.

„My horse was really great today, he was really with me, the turns in the second round were really tight, it wasn’t easy, but he made it look very easy. Tomorrow I woud like to fight in the second round with Michael Jung!” – said Rüder.

However, Rüder’s wish did not come true. In the VI stage of the CAVALIADA Eventing Tour – Friday’s competition for the prize of Raitech – the time allowed proved demanding, and it was the time that determined that the current Olympic champion Michael Jung, among others, did not fight in the second round. Of the six pairs that qualified for the second round, Aistis Vitkauskas riding Commander VG, who rode last, was the fastest one. Lithuanian equestrian fans thus had another reason to celebrate, after Andrius Petrovas’ earlier win in the Big Tour competition.

„I think it was a good round, it’s always exciting to compete in front of such an amazing crowd. The horse is very experienced, it’s a bit easier to take risks because i know he knows his job very well. I was a bit nervous, because it was his first indoor clas, but obviously he feels really good!” – said Vitkauskas.

Second place went to yesterday's winner, Germany's Mathies Rüder with Poynstown Porsch. The top 3 was rounded off by Poland's Julia Gillmaier riding Cayada M.

In the CAVALIADA Eventing Tour table before the grand final in Kraków, the joint leaders are now Mathies Rüder and Michael Jung with 45 points. Third place with 35 points is held by Joanna Pawlak, and fourth is shared by Julia Gillmaier and Paweł Warszawski with 31 points each.

Apart Dressage Tour

In both Łódź stages, for the prize of the Apart brand, the best rider was the Paris Olympian Justina Vanagaite-Samuile from Lithuania riding Fedon. In Saturday’s VI stage – the Freestyle to music – second place was taken by Germany’s Lena Hassmann with Grey Rose, and third by Poland’s Ilona Janas riding Heracles.

“Fedon was full of energy today, especially in the extended final canter. I actually thought that maybe today I should start in show jumping, not dressage!” said the smiling winner.

Vanagaite-Samuile strengthened her position as the leader of the Apart Dressage Tour before the Kraków final with a full set of 36 points. Second place belongs to Ilona Janas with 23 points, and third to another Lithuanian representative, Viktorija Kundrotaite and Helene Stenshoj Vitkauskas from Denmark with 21 points.

CAVALIADA Driving Tour

Eight teams competed in the fifth stage of the Tour – a competition for the prize of the National Support Centre for Agriculture. As always, the best four qualified for the second round, and ultimately the victory went to the married team of Rafał and Joanna Paszyńscy with their horses Ikar and Cynamon.

“This victory is a huge surprise for us. We believe that you always have to support each other, we try to do just that and today we manager to win. The audience in Łódź is wonderful and it's all thanks to them! Our horses performed at 200%. We try to take care of them as best we can and they repay us” said Rafał and Joanna Paszyński.

The sixth stage of the CAVALIADA Driving Tour, for the prize of A!W Forged, under the patronage of the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship, concluded the sporting competition during the first ever edition of Perlage CAVALIADA Tour in Łódź. The competition was held for the A!W Forged prize, under the patronage of the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship. The winner for the second time this season was the youngest in the field – 18-year-old Bartosz Klupś with his horses Kros and Koczis-GJ and groom Kacper Mosiek. Second place went to Rafał Paszyński with his wife Joanna Paszyńska and horses Ikar and Cynamon, and the Top 3 was topped off by Polish champion Aleksander Fularczyk with groom Filip Nowacki and horses Neptun and Nuta.

“It was very exciting – Mr. Rafał [Paszyński] is in excellent form, as is Olek [Fularczyk], the competition was well prepared, but – as you can see – we were better!” – said Bartosz Klupś.

In the CAVALIADA Dressage Tour ranking, Rafał Paszyński and Bartosz Klupś are tied for first place with 33 points. Third place is shared by Aleksander Fularczyk and Czech Jaroslav Juran, with 28 points each. Everything will be decided in the grand finale during Perlage CAVALIADA Tour in Kraków.

"We are very pleasantly surprised by the wide reception of the debut edition of the Perlage CAVALIADA Tour in Łódź and the number of fans gathered in the stands. We would like to thank our sponsors, partners, and everyone who worked on organizing this event—because without them, this success would not have been possible. See you in Krakow!” says Jakub Patelka, director of Perlage CAVALIADA Tour.

We warmly invite all equestrian sport fans to the final stage of the Perlage CAVALIADA Tour, which will take place at the Tauron Arena in Kraków from February 26^th to March 1^st. Spectators can expect spectacular sporting rivalry and a fight to the very end for valuable points and overall victory in each discipline, as well as many attractions for the whole family. Top-level equestrian sporting emotions in a unique Cavaliada setting guaranteed. Tickets available at ToBilet.pl.