Last Updated on January 23, 2026 by adminahb
Susan Pape & Harmony’s Giulilanta. Photo ©Centre Line Media
Wellington, Fla. – January 22, 2026 — The only CDI5* show of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) kicked off on Thursday with the headline class, the 3 Graces Dressage CDI5* FEI Grand Prix, held in a special evening session under lights. Great Britain’s Susan Pape and Harmony’s Giulilanta topped the bill with a new combination career high of 73.63%, eclipsing U.S. Olympian Marcus Orlob’s score on Jane by just 0.043 percentage points.
“It’s very exciting to be honored with a score like that — we keep climbing up,” said Pape, who rides the powerful and responsive chestnut with four white socks for Leslie and John Malone of Harmony Sporthorses. “There’s a lot of commotion, so she was a little tense, but I know how to cope with that. She’s still hot, but she’s focused. I think the high points tonight were the collected work, like the passage, transitions, and pirouettes. Giulilanta does a lot of things very well.”
The CDI5* — one of only two five-star dressage competitions in the Western hemisphere — is traditionally held towards the end of the three-month winter circuit in Wellington, FL. This year, however, the top-rated show has been moved up to week three, during which there is also a CDI3* and a CPEDI3*.
Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu completed the multicolored flags on the CDI5* podium, taking third place for Canada with Jill Irving’s 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Jaccardo (Desperado x Jazz).
Orlob may well have snuck above Pape’s score if not for a spook at the end of the extended canter that muddied the flying change. Still, Alice Tarjan’s 12-year-old Dutch mare — another by the Vivaldi son Desperado — appears to have conquered much of the nerves and tension that marred some of her performances in previous years.
Harmony’s Giulilanta (Jazz x Flemmingh) is 15, but the Dutch Warmblood is relatively lightly competed at the international grand prix level. When she was 11 and on the brink of stepping up to the level, she sustained an injury that ruled her out of competition for two years.
“I wasn’t even sure she would ever come back, but she did it so beautifully,” said Pape. “She had such a long break, and now she’s stronger than ever. She’s a miracle and a fighter, this horse.”
Perry-Glass Tops CDI3* Grand Prix
In the Palm Beach Equine Clinic CDI3* Grand Prix, the winning test came from the very last rider in the class of 10 starters. Heading up a trio of female Olympians on the podium, Rio 2016 Olympic team bronze medalist Kasey Perry-Glass (USA) and Diane Perry’s 14-year-old Heartbeat WP (Charmeur x Ferro) laid down a new personal best of 72.022% to claim the top spot. All five judges were in unison, with the duo’s scores ranging from 71.739% to 72.609%.
Compatriot Tina Konyot piloted her own and Earle I. Mack LLC’s 12-year-old Everdale gelding, Grover, into second with 68.391%. Canada’s Camille Carier Bergeron was the only non-U.S. rider in the top six, slotting into third with a 67.674% performance on her 2024 Paris Olympic mount, the 16-year-old Fidertanz mare Finnländerin.
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