IRISH dressage national champion Heike Holstein and her 11-year old home-bred mare Sambuca took sixth in the four-star Grand Prix in Dortmund, Germany, on Friday evening, before the show was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Twenty-two combinations started in the class, with Holstein and her Samarant-sired mare scored 70.57% to finish in sixth place. Victory the European eventing champion Ingrid Klimke and Franziskus 15 on a score of 75.21%. “Sambuca was great. I was at Dortmund last year as well and there was a huge difference in her in the year, she has matured,” Holstein said. “All the work we have done has paid off and she has really grown up.