British rider’s top-level win the day after her 64th birthday – with horse she thought might never compete again

Great Britain’s Susan Pape won the five-star 3 Graces grand prix at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival the day after her 64th birthday – with a “miracle” mare she feared might never return from injury.

Susan and Harmony’s Giulilanta scored 73.63%, a personal best as a combination to finish 0.043% ahead of US Olympic rider Marcus Orlob and Jane in Wellington, Florida, on 22 January.

“It’s very exciting to be honored with a score like that – we keep climbing up,” said Susan, who is based in Germany.

“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.”

The 15-year-old Jazz mare, owned by Leslie and John Malone of Harmony Sporthorses, had success internationally as an 11-year-old but as she was on the verge of stepping up, sustained an injury that kept her out of the ring until 2024. She and Susan Pape competed at grand prix level at Wellington last year, then appeared impressed at the 2025 London International Horse Show, coming fifth in the grand prix and fourth in the freestyle.

“I wasn’t even sure she would ever come back, but she did it so beautifully,” Susan said. “She had such a long break, and now she’s stronger than ever. She’s a miracle and a fighter, this horse.”

Marcus and Alice Tarjan’s 12-year-old mare finished second, and third place went to Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu and Jill Irving’s Jaccardo for Canada.

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