AFTER another exciting day of dressage at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Germany go into Tuesday’s Grand Prix Special as the top team and favourites for gold after coming out on top following a fascinating two days of Grand Prix.

All competitors will start on a clean sheet in the Grand Prix Special, where the team medals will be decided.

Germany will have the best draw in the final when they will bid for an incredible 14th Olympic title. They have the best combined score of 7,911, just ahead of Britain (7,508) in second and Denmark (7,435) in third place. Also through to the team final are the USA, The Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal and Spain.

It was Isabell Werth who secured Germany’s team position when she was last to go in today’s session with Bella Rose, topping her group and achieving the best score of the day of 82.50%. She was less than 2% ahead of Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin, who was second in the group with Gio (80.96%), and they were the only two riders to break the 80% barrier today.

Werth did not however better her teammate Jessica von Bredow-Werndl’s score (84.37%) from yesterday’s session and, in Wednesday’s individual final, it will be Bredow-Werndl who will go last and have slight favouritism for the gold medal.

After an exciting new ‘group’ system – which saw six groups of 10 go over two days - the final analysis show that the 18 best riders overall made it through to the final, however the system provided more excitement throughout.

Super performances

In the first group of the day, Group D, Denmark’s Carina Cassøe Krüth sailed through to the individual final and helped Denmark’s team chances when scoring 76.67% with Heiline’s Danciera.

The second qualifying place went to USA’s Adrienne Lyle with Salvino who scored much lower than expected (74.87%) in a test that didn’t go her way, however it was still good enough to finish second in the group and go through.

Ireland’s Heike Holstein finished sixth in the group on a score of 68.43% with Sambuca, which was just under 2% off their personal best Grand Prix score. Heike was very pleased with her performance. (Read her comments here.)

Heike Holstein and Sambuca in action at the Tokyo Olympic Games \ Tomas Holcbecher

There was drama in the first group as London-based lawyer Caroline Chew of Singapore was eliminated due to blood on the mouth of her horse Tribiani. Caroline was the first Singaporean athlete to compete in the equestrian events at the Olympics.

Mixed day

Sunday was a day where plenty of mistakes crept into the Grand Prix and particularly in Group E where Sweden’s Juliette Ramel qualified for the Freestyle final on a score of 73.36%, significantly lower than that any of Saturday’s qualifiers.

Germany’s Dorothee Schneider, who is among the favourites for individual gold, also had a number of uncharacteristic mistakes and scored 78.82% with Showtime, well below her best, to top the group and boost Germany’s team score.

Pocket rocket

Reigning Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin upped the ante when she entered the arena with the little pocket rocket Gio midway through Group F. The 10-year-old gelding is making his championship debut in Tokyo and had only done two international Grand Prix tests before travelling.

A beautiful test saw them finish on a personal best of 80.96%. They received five 9s for their general impression and Judge F (Magnus Ringmark from Sweden) awarded the pair one 10 for their two-time tempi changes.

“I couldn’t ask any more from him tonight, he went in and he tried his absolute heart out,” gushed Charlotte afterwards.

“He’s just unbelievable. He gives me everything he’s got, even though he needs to get stronger and a bit more confident. I can’t ask anymore of him.

“I felt so emotional on the last centre line because when you have a ride like that, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. He’s absolutely lived up to expectations."

Charlotte Dujardin and Gio during their Grand Prix test at the Tokyo Olympic Games \ Tomas Holcbecher

Four-time USA Olympian Steffen Peters also produced a lovely test in the same group. Riding Suppenkasper, who has 22 international wins in-a-row, he scored 76.19% which finished third in the group but was good enough to get through as one of the “lucky losers” or the best six of the rest.

Last to go, the most decorated equestrian athlete of all time, Isabell Werth, showed the world just how good she is with Bella Rose 2 when she scored 82.50%. The pair received an incredible 10 scores of 10 in the test, most coming for their exceptional piaffe and passage movements.

Werth described the 17-year-old Bella Rose as “my dream horse and when she’s in top shape she is the best - her way of moving, her character, her charisma, her piaffe/passage down the centreline - of course Weihe (her other mare Weihegold) is super and the younger ones too, but with Bella you have the feeling there is always something more possible!”

Talking about these “Games like no other” in Tokyo, the multiple Olympic champion said the lack of an audience could be influential. “Mostly you will see it in the medal decisions, especially in the Freestyle. There will be music but no crowd to carry the horses and riders - it makes a big difference - but on the other hand we are so happy that we can be here, can compete that we have an Olympic Games.

"We are in a discipline that is really depending on Games, because then we are more in the focus of the media and the world and it gives the younger riders at home the motivation and support so it’s a big package we have, and we are very thankful to be here."

Individual qualifiers

Group A - Britain’s Charlotte Fry (Everdale) and Sweden’s Therese Nilshagen (Dante Weltino OLD)

Group B - Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour (Bohemian) and The Netherlands Edward Gal (Total US)

Group C - Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (TSF Dalera) and USA’s Sabine Schut-Kery (Sancero)

Group D – Denmark’s Carina Cassøe Krüth (Heiline’s Danciera) and USA’s Adrienne Lyle (Salvino)

Group E – Dorothee Schneider (Showtime) and Sweden’s Juliette Ramel (Buriel K.H.)

Group F – Germany’s Isabell Werth (Bella Rose 2) and Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin (Gio)

The next best six combinations who did not finish in the top two of their heats but qualify for the individual final based on their scores are: Dutchman Hans Peter Minderhoud (Dream Boy), USA’s Steffen Peters (Suppenkasper), Britain’s Carl Hester (En Vogue), Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg (Zack), Portugal’s Rogrigo Torres (Fogoso), and Spain’s Beatriz Ferrer-Salat (Elegance).

Tuesday's final takes place at 5pm (Japanese time) and 9am Irish time. The final will be shown on BBC One and is also available to stream on Discovery Plus (€6.99 for 30 days).

Follow all the news from the Tokyo Olympic Games here.