William Matthew and Freischütz 5. Image: LL Foto.
William Matthew wins first leg of the Louisdor Prize with Freischütz 5
By Equestrian Life
Australian dressage rider William Matthew has won the opening event of the prestigious Louisdor Prize, held at Horses & Dreams in Hagen, Germany on Sunday.
Riding Madeline Winter-Schulze’s nine-year-old gelding Freischütz 5 (Foundation 2 x Del Martino 2), William scored an impressive 74.404% to claim victory, ahead of German Olympian Isabell Werth and Gut Wettlkam’s Chuck Bass on 73.765%. View the results here.
In the qualification test on Saturday, William had finished second on a score of 71.368% behind Isabell on 71.632%. View the results here.
Originally from Perth, William travelled to Europe at age 17 for an equestrian gap year. Working with fellow Aussies Hayley Beresford and Warwick McLean among others, he has now trained with Isabell Werth since the end of 2019.
The Louisdor Prize is a prestigious German championship series for developing Grand Prix horses, aged 8 to 10. While the tests used in the series include all the elements of the Grand Prix, the requirements are not quite as arduous and allow the young horses to be carefully introduced to Big Tour level.
Horse & Dreams in Hagen is the first leg of the series, followed by Wiesbaden (26-29 May), Kronberg/Schafhof (12-15 July), Donzdorf/Birchhof Stud (3-6 August), Guxhagen (6-8 October), and then the final in Frankfurt (13-17 December).
Previous final winners include the likes of El Santo NRW, Dablino FRH, Weihegold OLD, Emilio, DSP Samy Davis Jr. and TSF Dalera BB, all of which went on to be German championship team horses.
