Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro continued their phenomenal Dressage form, premiering their new Olympic Grand Prix Freestyle to win their class with a score of over 90% at Sunday nights sell-out gala evening.
Charlotte claimed double gold at the London Olympics 2012 with a patriotic-themed freestyle, treble dressage world record holders Charlotte and Valegro have opted for a new piece of music, again with a Rio carnival feel.
Performing their brand new routine, during the packed gala evening, the pair wowed the crowd and the five judges with an impressive test in Hartpury’s international indoor arena. Being last to go, spectators were kept waiting but without disappointment as the score came in for 90.625%, amazingly 17% ahead of second place!
Second place was taken by Henriette Anderson with Warlocks Charm, with a strong score of 73.875%. Roland Tong and Rybrook Ambience came in just behind them for 73.325% to take the last podium spot for Ireland.
Dujardin had much success at Hatpury, winning the Elite Stallions Young Horse Prix St George Championship. Having won the qualifying class earlier in the week, Charlotte on Hawtins Delicato – owned by Ann Corry and her mentor and Hartpury equine academy coach, Carl Hester – scooped the top spot with 76.62%.
The gala evening also saw informative and fun demonstrations from Charlie and Abi Hutton. Rounded off with a chat with Carl Hester while waiting for the prizegiving for the Grand Prix. Carl Informed the crowds about his and Charlotte’s preparations for Rio, and mentioned how essential Hartpury has been for this.
Carl, who won team gold with Team GB at London 2012, went on to say “There is a complete Equine Therapy Centre here, which is incredible. We use the water treadmill here and I think it is an amazing way of getting horses fit. Another thing from the competitors point of view is that we are blessed with amazing surfaces at Hartpury. There are not many places in the world that can boast these facilities, so I would like to say thank you to Hartpury for hosting.”
