By Alice Collins for Wellington International
Wellington, Fla. – January 22, 2026—The only CDI5* show of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) kicked off on Thursday with the headline class, the 3 Graces Dressage CDI5* FEI Grand Prix, held in a special evening session under lights. Great Britain’s Susan Pape and Harmony’s Giulilanta topped the bill with a new combination career high of 73.63%, eclipsing U.S. Olympian Marcus Orlob’s score on Jane by just 0.043 percentage points.
Susan Pape & Harmony’s Giulilanta. Photo ©Centre Line Media
“It’s very exciting to be honored with a score like that—we keep climbing up,” said Pape, who rides the powerful and responsive chestnut with four white socks for Leslie and John Malone of Harmony Sporthorses. “There’s a lot of commotion, so she was a little tense, but I know how to cope with that. She’s still hot, but she’s focused. I think the high points tonight were the collected work, like the passage, transitions and pirouettes. Giulilanta does a lot of things very well.”
Marcus Orlob & Jane. Photo ©Centre Line Media
The CDI5*—one of only two five-star dressage competitions in the Western hemisphere—is traditionally held towards the end of the three-month winter circuit in Wellington, FL. This year, however, the top-rated show has been moved up to week three, during which there is also a CDI3* and a CPEDI3*.
Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu completed the multicolored flags on the CDI5* podium, taking third place for Canada with Jill Irving’s 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Jaccardo (Desperado x Jazz).
Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu & Jaccardo. Photo ©Centre Line Media
Orlob may well have snuck above Pape’s score if not for a spook at the end of the extended canter that muddied the flying change. Still, Alice Tarjan’s 12-year-old Dutch mare—another by the Vivaldi son Desperado—appears to have conquered much of the nerves and tension that marred some of her performances in previous years.
Harmony’s Giulilanta (Jazz x Flemmingh) is 15, but the Dutch Warmblood is relatively lightly competed at the international grand prix level. When she was 11 and on the brink of stepping up to the level, she sustained an injury that ruled her out of competition for two years.
“I wasn’t even sure she would ever come back, but she did it so beautifully,” said Pape. “She had such a long break, and now she’s stronger than ever. She’s a miracle and a fighter, this horse.”
Giulilanta competed in London, England, last month and Pape was impressed with her stamina after so much traveling.
“I was surprised with how well she’s coped because it took us 23 hours to get back home [to Germany] from London, and then she spent four days at home—just hand walking and lungeing—then she got on a plane and came here,” added Pape, who spent the 2022 and 2025 winter seasons in Wellington competing Giulilanta. “I’m surprised how fit she is, but she knows exactly where she is when she’s here, so that makes it easy, and she’s quite secure in the ring.”
Susan Pape & Harmony’s Giulilanta are presented as winners of the 3 Graces Dressage CDI5* Grand Prix by (left to right) Jan Brink, Kyra Kirkland, Carol Cohen-Hodess and Judge at C Isobel Wessels. Photo ©Centre Line Media
Pape currently has eyes on the ground in Florida from fellow Harmony rider Michael Klimke, and while at home, she trains with her husband Ingo Pape and Holga Finken.
Giulilanta will contest the World Cup™ qualifier during AGDF 7 before heading back to Europe with sights set on the FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany, in August.
In the U.S., two of Giulilanta’s embryo transfer offspring have already proved themselves in the arena at small tour; her Revolution daughter M Revelation De Jeu, who is now nine, has won with Lars Petersen, and the 10-year-old Glamourdale stallion Lorence De Jeu competed under Mackenzie Peer. Pape also has two two-year-olds of her own out of Giulilanta in Europe.
Click for results from the 3 Graces Dressage CDI5* FEI Grand Prix.
Perry-Glass Tops CDI3* Grand Prix
In the Palm Beach Equine Clinic CDI3* Grand Prix, the winning test came from the very last rider in the class of 10 starters. Heading up a trio of female Olympians on the podium, Rio 2016 Olympic team bronze medalist Kasey Perry-Glass (USA) and Diane Perry’s 14-year-old Heartbeat WP (Charmeur x Ferro) laid down a new personal best of 72.022% to claim the top spot. All five judges were in unison, with the duo’s scores ranging from 71.739% to 72.609%.
Kasey Perry-Glass & Heartbeat W.P. Photo ©Centre Line Media
Compatriot Tina Konyot piloted her own and Earle I. Mack LLC’s 12-year-old Everdale gelding, Grover, into second with 68.391%. Canada’s Camille Carier Bergeron was the only non-U.S. rider in the top six, slotting into third with a 67.674% performance on her 2024 Paris Olympic mount, the 16-year-old Fidertanz mare Finnländerin.
The Palm Beach Equine Clinic CDI3* Grand Prix Special takes place on Saturday, January 24, starting at 9.35 a.m. ET.
Kasey Perry-Glass & Heartbeat W.P. are presented as winners of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic CDI3* Grand Prix by Laura Hutton, MVB (right) and Judge at C Henning Lehrmann (center). Photo ©Centre Line Media
Click for full results from the Palm Beach Equine Clinic CDI3* Grand Prix.
Dressage competition during AGDF 3 resumes on Friday, January 23, with daytime classes including the first qualifier of the Lövsta Future Challenge, a class for developing grand prix horses, as well as Ponies, Juniors, Young Riders and U25.
Friday’s big class, the 3 Graces Dressage FEI Grand Prix Freestyle under lights during Friday Night Stars, gets underway at 7.15 p.m. ET. Covered spectator seating is free, as is the live stream from the International Stadium, which can be found here. AGDF hosts seven weeks of CDI competition and weekly national shows over three months, finishing March 29. For more information, live streams, and results, visit https://www.wellingtoninternational.com.
