Lusitano New to The Level is Crowned Grand Prix Champion During Gala Evening at US Dressage Finals

A multitalented “sweetheart” Iberian stallion new to the level this summer was crowned the Grand Prix Champion under rider Jorge Arauz during Friday night’s gala evening at the 2025 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®. The show takes place from October 30 to November 2, 2025, at its new home, World Equestrian Center (WEC) in Wilmington, OH.

Of the 14 starters, Arauz coaxed the winning 65.036% performance in the Open Grand Prix Championship from Dulce Borjas’s charming gray Lusitano stallion, London Do Vouga, despite the 11-year-old’s inexperience. Two mares joined them on the podium: Kristin Wasemiller-Knutson and her 16-year-old Trakehner Vashti slotted into the reserve spot with 65% and Laura Abner finished third with 64.891% on her 11-year-old Danish-bred mare, Bellina.

“It has been an amazing journey with this horse,” said Arauz, who works for Borjas at her Los Encinos Equestrian Hacienda in Magnolia, TX. “He came to us from Brazil three or four years ago as a kind of average horse schooling second level for Dulce to ride.”

Arauz soon realized that London Do Vouga had the quality and talent for upper levels, and in a few short years he learned all the grand prix work. Borjas also earned her USDF silver medal on the horse 18 months ago. Finals was the horse’s third show at grand prix level.

“Honestly, we were very happy and humble to be here,” explained Arauz, who is originally from Nicaragua and now rides for the USA. “We are new in this, so we had no big expectations, but we tried our best and the test went really well — his best so far. Obviously, there’s always room for improvement, but from his breed the piaffe/passage are strong exercises for him. He’s a sweetheart.”

For the past six months, while they made the step up to grand prix, Arauz has been London’s sole rider and has benefitted from training with Rafael Soto as well as riders from the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art.

“Hopefully we will get him to some CDIs next season in Florida,” he added, “and we would like to get him qualified for the USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship at WEC – Ocala in May of next year.”

Tactical Ride Yields Results
After a mammoth seven hours of competition in the 36-strong Second Level Adult Amateur Championship, detective Alexa Briscoe and her seven-year-old Lincolntime nosed ahead to claim victory with 71.032%.

She has owned the Londontime x Weltmeyer gelding since he was three, but his propensity to add his own moves meant they avoided rated competition until he was six. 

“We had one of those more ‘creative’ tests yesterday as a warm-up class,” said Briscoe, who has trained with Becky Langwost-Barlow for three decades. “Today, there were a few points that I had to leave on the table to get through it and avoid a bigger issue, so I’m proud we managed the tension and pulled it off when it counted.”

She bought Lincolntime from Germany off a video during the COVID-19 pandemic after Langwost-Barlow suggested he would be a good fit for her.

“I had no intention of buying off video. He looked a bit hot and tight, but he was so reasonably priced and vetted so well, that I figured if he didn’t work for me, I could sell him on,” she added. “He’s worked out beautifully, and he’s definitely not for sale. I tend to keep my horses — my 29-year-old former grand prix horse who I took to the very first US Dressage Finals in Kentucky in 2013 is still at the farm in Maryland.”

Briscoe particularly appreciated WEC’s facilities as Lincolntime is barefoot. “The place is beautiful and very barefoot friendly — there’s no gravel,” she pointed out. “We’re really happy with the footing, and stabling is nice. It’s fun to be in a new place.”

A Big, Brave Baby
The enormous four-year-old Rock It P certainly did rock it in the First Level Open Freestyle under his owner/rider Heather Mason, scoring 77.241%, helped by a plus-80% score from the judge at C. They used music from the movie Enola Holmes put together by Kevin Whitney.

“He was completely distracted by the camera person yesterday in his training level test, so that was a mess,” said Mason of the 17.3hh gelding who was the only four-year-old in the First Level Freestyle. “Today he put on his bravery and was fantastic. It’s a very difficult floorplan with bold movements and combinations because he’s an honest horse, which is lucky because being so big it would be a problem if he wasn’t. I bought him as a foal, and he was only supposed to make 16.2hh.”

Rock It P will have a month off after Finals and then pick up light work over the winter. 

“My indoor is small for him so I won’t do a ton until we can get back outdoors — maybe just some jumping and rail work,” added Mason, who is involved with riding or helping riders of 28 horses at Finals. “I have to let Rock It’s body catch up; everything comes so easy for him, and he’s not stressed about the work but he’s still physically immature. He’s definitely a super horse, and I look forward to many years with him.” 

Harrington Has the Edge
It was incredibly tight at the top in the Third Level Open Championship, with local rider Nicole Harrington eventually prevailing. All three top rides scored over 72%, with Harrington besting the pack with 72.725% — including a high score of 76.25% from the judge at B — on Gail Garvin’s eight-year-old German gelding Despacito Corazon (by Destano x Belissimo M). In fact, the top eight all finished with scores over 70%.

“I was sitting back at the barn with three left to go, and it was nail-biting to see if my score could hold,” said Harrington, whose training operation in Pleasant Plain, OH, is just half an hour from WEC. “It was a really nice ride. He was with me and let me ride him. He’s only going to go up from here.”

Harrington bought Despacito Corazon and imported him as a six-year-old as a sales horse. Garvin fell in love with him, and he will eventually be campaigned by his owner, but Harrington is helping train him up the levels.

“He was behind in his training, but he’s been a fabulous horse who keeps showing up to the plate,” added Harrington, who trains with Scott Hassler. “Last year he started showing at First Level, then I put the changes on him over the winter, and now we’re at Third. I’m excited about him, and we plan to take him as far as we can. He needs more strength and cadence in the trot tour, but that will come over winter.” 

Competition continues on Saturday, November 1, with 14 championship titles to be decided across the day and evening gala sessions. The full digital show program is available here. Follow the action via the USDF Facebook page, USDF Instagram page, and the US Dressage Finals website, plus live online streaming from the Sanctuary Arena on USEF Network with expert commentary from Kathy Connelly. 

Check out the latest coverage of the 2025 Finals, including behind-the-scenes photos and daily releases here. Live results and start times can be found here.

Along with presenting sponsor Adequan®, the US Dressage Finals is supported by SmartEquine, LeMieux, and Platinum Performance. Contributing sponsors include Premier Equestrian, Sterling Thompson Equine, and Uvex.