Judy Reynolds is the first Irish dressage rider to qualify for the FEI World Cup Dressage Final after finishing in third place in the Western European League on 57 points today.

She will also join Denis Lynch at the World Cup Final, where the Irish rider has qualified in show jumping.

In the final FEI World Cup Grand Prix Kür (Freestyle to Music) qualifier in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands today Judy placed sixth on 77.870%.

Reynolds received an invitation to compete in the FEI World Cup Dressage Final in 2016 but today the German-based Kildare native qualified for the final  – to be held in Omaha, Nebraska, USA – with the 15-year-old Jazz gelding Vancouver K, owned by her parents Joe and Kathleen Reynolds.

It is also the first time in Irish equestrian history that an Irish dressage rider (Judy Reynolds on 57 points) and an Irish jumping rider (Tipperary’s Denis Lynch on 64 points) both qualified for the FEI World Cup Final by finishing in third place in their respective FEI Western European Leagues, considered the most competitive equestrian leagues on the globe.

Reynolds said today:”It is a bonus to get to the final and I am delighted to qualify in third place in the league as it will give us a better draw in the Grand Prix in Omaha on 30th March.

“The aim is to deliver a strong performance in the Grand Prix to set us up for the Grand Prix Kür freesyle final on April 1st.”

Commenting on her performance in ‘s-Hertogenbosch she said “Vancouver K got a little bit excited with the applause for the score for Isabell’s test and wasn’t quite settled in the first halt but overall the work was better than last week in Dortmund as he was more consistent, better in the frame and most of the piaffe/passage trot work went well.”

The final FEI World Cup qualifier in ‘s-Hertogenbosch was won by the reigning FEI World Cup champion, Netherlands rider Hans Peter Minderhoud with Glock’s Flirt on 84.89%.

Jack Burns