It’s déjà vu for Richard Vogel and Cydello
A year ago Richard Vogel debuted a new horse on the Derby field at the Winter Equestrian Festival [WEF] – Cydello – and they won. Today they repeated that victory in the same $140,000 FEI 3* Grand Prix.
“Cydello is an amazing horse,” said the German rider currently ranked ninth in the world. “He had some great success in the past year since we had him. Actually, his first Grand Prix win we had together was on this field, this class, this Grand Prix, exactly one year ago.
“So, we thought, you know, let’s try to repeat it and yeah, we’re thrilled and mega happy that we succeeded here.”
Time has been good to Cydello, an 11-year-old Hanoverian chestnut gelding that Richard found not far from his home in Germany. “He got more experienced when we had him here last year,” Richard said. “But he really loves those grass fields and throughout the year now, in the summer, when he had him back in Europe, he had some great shows.”
Richard had his eye on Cydello when the horse grew up close to his farm in Germany. “He was bred and born only half an hour from our place in Germany. I know the breeders really well,” he said. “They were never really selling him but we finally got in touch and I was allowed to sit on him and from the first ride it worked very good with the two of us.”
It is early days for WEF 2025, with ten more weeks of competition coming up as the stakes increase throughout and the standard only becomes more competitive.
“I think that’s why we’re all here,” said Richard. “It’s a level you couldn’t ask for more, really. Whether it’s a 3, 4 or 5* week, there’s always some of the best riders in the world here competing with their best horses.”
Sunday’s Grand Prix closing out week 2 of WEF was no exception, featuring the likes of British Olympian gold medalist Ben Maher, ranked third worldwide, who finished 7th aboard Dallas Vegas Batilly. Ireland’s leading rider Cian O’Connor and Bentley Du Sury were third in a time of 38.51 seconds in the jump off, while USA’s Mimi Gochman who has found form this month, took the runners up slot with Inden BH in a time of 38.10 and held the lead until Richard and Cydello reclaimed their victory.
“I mean, even in this 3* Grand Prix, we saw some Olympic combinations, not just riders, but also horses,” said Richard. “So that just shows you how tough the level here is. But that’s what we’re searching for. Only if you compete against the best of your competitors, you get better and you have to measure yourself with better competitors and the best of the world in order to improve.”
This could be interesting:
Florida vacation sees back-to-back wins for Richard Vogel’s German owner