Nora Batchelder and Faro SQF Are Open Grand Prix Freestyle Champions at 2024 US Dressage Finals Presented by Adequan®

On the second of two gala evenings at the 2024 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®, Saturday’s most prestigious class, the Open Grand Prix Freestyle, was led from the front. Nora Batchelder was first to go, and the 74.208% she laid down with her 16-year-old international partner Faro SQF proved too high a bar for her rivals to scale. The 2024 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® at the Kentucky Horse Park run through Sunday, November 10.

Batchelder also scooped the Jazzman Perpetual Trophy for her win, presented by Donna Richardson. The reserve champion’s sash went to Kristin Wasemiller-Knutson and Vashti, her own 15-year-old Nico mare, who was bred by Sherry Koella, for their energetic 73.183% test. Heather McCarthy finished third with 71.442% aboard Sandi Chohany’s 13-year-old Ampere mare, Au Revoir.

Batchelder, from Williston, FL, said, “His test had a lot of energy, and he feels like he really wants to do it. For a 16-year-old grand prix horse, it feels good that he’s still so into it. He’s been with me since he was nine — we did the Pan American Games together — and my first Finals ever was with him at Prix St. Georges, so it’s fun to win at this level now. I love him so much; he’s my heart horse.”

Their test was a technically challenging floorplan that featured two-tempi changes on a circle blending seamlessly into one-tempis and included a piaffe pirouette. Faro was bred in Florida by Jill Peterson and is by Fidertanz out of a mare that the Batchelders imported from Germany and then sold, only to buy back her offspring. 

“It’s a crazy hard pattern, and I’m always really nervous,” admitted Batchelder, who drove for more than 12 hours to get to Finals. “I was worried about the draw too because it’s always a little rough to be first, but it turned out awesome. He was so awake, alive, and happy. This might actually be our last show together; I’m not sure. I have a lot of young ones coming up, and I don’t know if we have anything left to prove; he's done so much for me.”

Two Laurens on Future Stars

Both Lauren Sprieser and Lauren Chumley logged wins on horses they firmly believe will be talented grand prix partners in future.

Lauren Chumley and Leeloo Dallas were the final combination in the Open Intermediate I Freestyle, and their fun routine and upbeat music saw them snatch the lead with 72.1%, despite the rider’s uncharacteristic nerves. The compact 16-hand, eight-year-old mare by the Ravel son Gaspard De La Nuit bounded down the final center line in two-tempi changes.   

“It’s a little bit of a different game when you go in, and you’re expected to do well,” said Chumley, who trains with Michael Bragdell and splits her time between Pittstown, NJ, and Loxahatchee, FL. “I’m used to clawing my way up from the bottom, so this is a whole different game, and I have to learn to deal with that. I don’t normally get nervous, but there’s a bit of pressure: she’s been winning at CDIs and got a grant from The Dressage Foundation.

“She’s got better and better over the weekend — we were second yesterday — so tonight this one really counted, and the freestyle is my jam. I thought, ‘We can get this,’” added Chumley, who is contesting eight Championship classes at Finals.

“We’ve been schooling a lot of grand prix, so this is hopefully our last show at small tour,” she added. “I hope to do developing grand prix next year; she has all the pieces for it. The piaffe/passage is going to be really special.”

Looking For the Next Big Thing

Lauren Sprieser also has her sights set on the big prize of international grand prix with her Fourth Level Open winner, the Elvis Syndicate LLC’s C Cadeau. The pair scored 73.843%, giving themselves 2.5% breathing room over the reserve champions Brittany Burson and Leonardo Z.

“He was reserve in the PSG with more enthusiasm in the canter than was required, but it’s a taste of the grand prix horse of the future,” said Sprieser, who trains with Ali Brock. “It’s not imminent, but he’s touching all of the pieces. He has a tremendous ability for collection.”

Sprieser, who is based in Marshall, VA, has had the eight-year-old Danish gelding by Blue Hors St, Schufro for two years after finding him in Denmark but has shown him only sparingly. 

“When we sold Elvis, who was reserve champion here two years ago in the freestyle, we were looking for the next big thing — and I think we found it,” she enthused. “This is my seventh show with him so it’s still a new competition partnership. The showing is certainly fun, but the training happens at home. Still, it’s a pleasure to show this horse anywhere but this show is special because I have four of my syndicate members here. It’s been such an amazing, joyous thing to put together such a cool community of people that I get to share this journey with.”

Dead Heat

The judges could not split the performances of Isabella Rucki and Londyn Pachota in the Prix St. Georges for Junior and Young Riders — a brand new class on the Finals roster for 2024. They were both awarded 62.5% and each was given a winner’s cooler. Rucki rode Jamie Caddell’s 21-year-old half-Arabian gelding PSA Mohegan Sun, while Pachota rode her own Samurai V, a 12-year-old gelding by Sir Donnerhall.

Competition concludes on Sunday, November 8, with the final 10 championship titles to be decided, from Training Level to Prix St. Georges. Follow the action via the USDF Facebook page and the US Dressage Finals website, plus live online streaming of all the action from the Alltech Arena on USEF Network. To learn more about the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® and read daily news, visit the official US Dressage Finals event website. Start times and results can be found on www.horseshowoffice.com.

Along with presenting sponsor Adequan®, the US Dressage Finals is supported by Great American Insurance Group, SmartPak® Equine, Platinum Performance, and LeMieux. Contributing sponsors include Cryostride, Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, Premier Equestrian, Sterling Thompson Equine, and Uvex.