When we look at the start list for the dressage at the WEG, the first thing we need to observe \u2013 yet again \u2013 is the outright dominance of the Donnerhall line. He, himself, is represented by four competitors, a total only matched by his son, De Niro. Donnerhall is further represented by two sons, Donnerschlag and Don Cardinale. Another son, Don Gregory is represented by two of his sons, Don Davidhoff and Don Ruto. De Niro\u2019s son, Danone I is also the sire of one competitor. That\u2019s thirteen D-liners out of 103, almost 13%, and it will be interesting to see if this percentage grows when we look at the top 15 performers.![\"KDamonHillCanter\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/KDamonHillCanter.jpg\")
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Donnerhall at its finest – Damon Hill<\/em><\/p>\n The Trakehner, Gribaldi, and the half-Trakehner, Michellino, each provide three competitors, then there are six stallions each represented by two, Sandro Hit (both ridden by Australians), Rohdiamant, Solos Carex, Florestan, Come Back II and Jazz.<\/p>\n In the Freestyle, the percentage of D\u2019s has risen to 46.66 (7 out of 15). Three by the grand old man himself, the rest by four of his sons. In terms of studbooks, the Dutch lead with seven representatives, with the next largest book the Hanoverians with three, but it gets a little more balanced when we add one Oldenburg and one Westfalien to make it five German to seven Dutch horses\u2026 although this is still a statistic that will cause some heartburn in Deutschland, especially when the gold medallist, Valegro, is solidly Dutch bred three generations back\u2026<\/p>\n Valegro – the best son of Negro to date<\/em><\/p>\n Valegro\u2019s sire Negro was a small tour dressage horse before he was injured, and he has been a moderately successful sire, although none of his progeny are remotely as successful as Valegro, but the stand out rising star of the WEG, Verdades proves that you don\u2019t need a gilt edge pedigree to become a star. The bay gelding is by the unheralded Westfalien stallion, Florett As, by the great Florestan, out of a mare by the less than great, Urofino, but it is on Verdades\u2019 dam line that things start to get wild\u2026<\/p>\n His dam, Liwilarda, is by Goya, a grandson of the very famous carriage stallion, Renovo, who is by the Hackney, Cambridge Cole, with a couple of crosses of the old agricultural Dutch Gelderlanders. Her dam, Wilarda, is also by Renovo out of a Gelder mare. Not surprisingly Verdades has a \u2018blood\u2019 percentage of 9.77%. This is hardly the much-hyped modern Dutch dressage horse – I wouldn\u2019t try telling that to Laura Graves though\u2026<\/p>\n Verdades<\/em><\/p>\n Whatever they say, Thoroughbred still rules\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n For all the talk of the new eventing sport and with it, the dominance of the European Warmblood, the results at Caen once again confirm that you need \u2018blood\u2019, Thoroughbred<\/strong> blood, to succeed at four-star level. Even on the entries you can see that most of the horses are at least 50% Thoroughbred even if that blood was hidden behind a range of European brands.<\/p>\n When you get to the top ten, then the concentration of blood becomes more obvious. Opgun Louvo is branded Selle Fran\u00e7ais, but the French have always reveled in the contribution of the Thoroughbred to their breed – 83.98 blood. His sire Shogun II is by the great French Thoroughbred, Night and Day and out of the dam of the showjumping Olympic gold medalist at Atlanta, Jus de Pomme, Opaline des Pins \u2013 and there is more blood there since she is by the Anglo Arab, Garitchou.<\/p>\n Opgun Louvo, the 2014 World Champion bred in Normandy<\/em><\/p>\n Opgun\u2019s dam is by J\u2019T\u2019Adore, a grandson of the great Thoroughbred, Furioso, and her dam is by a son of the great Anglo sire, Nithard and out of a Thoroughbred mare.<\/p>\n Michael Jung\u2019s silver medallist, FischerRocana FST is by Ituango xx, who stands at Marbach. Ituango moved from Brandenburg to Marbach in Germany\u2019s south in 2012. He is seriously bred as a racehorse. His sire Acatenango was three times German racehorse of the year, won the German Derby and retired with winnings of \u20ac4,000,000. Ituango\u2019s dam sire Lagunas is a Derby winner too, and produced four licensed stallions that are used for breeding with Warmbloods.\u00a0 Ituango himself raced for two years, for earnings of 138,000 Deutsch Mark with two Derby qualifications.<\/p>\n Rocana\u2019s dam, Rose, is a right mix. She is by Carismo, a son of the Holsteiner, Calypso II, along with a few of those old but good Hanoverian names: Akzent II, Cavalier, Gotthard, and out of a mare by Scampolo (by Sandro out of a Gepard mare \u2013 two of the foundation sires of Paul Schockem\u00f6hle\u2019s program) out of a mare of Saxon\/Mecklenburg breeding. All that adds up to 63.87% blood.<\/p>\n The Throroughbred Ituango<\/em><\/p>\n Michael told me at Lion d\u2019Angers last year, where he rode FischerRocana FST\u2019s little sister, Ricona, that while he liked the Ituango foals he\u2019d seen, he did not expect the stallion to equal that other great Thoroughbred who stood in the south, Heraldik.<\/p>\n \u201cI think with Ituango you will need the quality from the mare. Heraldik was really good, with dressage movements and showjumping talent, and this Thoroughbred, Ituango, is just for racing, he doesn\u2019t have the quality for the dressage or the showjumping.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"ValegroPass\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/ValegroPass.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"TU](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/TU-VerdadesBetter.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"SandraAuffarthOpgunLouvo\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SandraAuffarthOpgunLouvo.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"ItuangoW\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/ItuangoW1.jpg\")
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