Irish Dressage rider Anna Merveldt and the 11-year-old stallion Esporim recorded their best ever World Cup finish as a pairing when taking runner-up spot in Sunday CDI3*-W FEI World Cup Freestyle To Music Grand Prix at Budapest-Fot in Hungary.
Merveldt and Esporim finished third in Saturday’s Grand Prix at the same venue, and went one better in yesterday’s Freestyle to take second place overall with an impressive score of 73.650%.
It left the Irish combination just behind French rider Morgan Barbancon and Sir Donnerhall II OLD who took victory with a score of 76.575%. Austria’s Christian Schumach and Donna Karacho, who had finished ahead of Merveldt on Saturday, had to settle for third place behind the Irish rider this time when scoring 73.600%.
Anna Merveldt and Esporim’s previous best placing in a World Cup came at Mariakalnok in Hungary back in June when they finished fourth.
