Carl Hester claims Grand Prix Freestyle at Hartpury Gala

Carl Hester with Nip Tuck. Photo Kevin Sparrow

Carl Hester with Nip Tuck. Photo Kevin Sparrow

Carl Hester showed his Olympic pedigree at last night’s Gala Evening with a gold performance at Hartpury’s Festival of Dressage.

Riding Nip Tuck, Hartpury’s Equine Academy dressage coach and Olympic gold medallist treated the crowd to a mesmerising display as he took the honours in the Superflex CDI FEI Grand Prix Freestyle event with a score of 80.050%.

Henriette Anderson, riding Warlocks Charm, secured second place with a score of 75.000% while Hayley Watson Greaves took the final podium position with a score of 72.750% on Rubins Nite.

In the Elite Stallions British Young Horse PSG Championship, Hester’s Great Britain teammate, Michael Eilberg, conjured up an eye-catching test on Woodlander Farouche as they stormed to victory with a score of 77.807%.

Michael Eilberg with Woodlander Farouche. Photo Kevin Sparrow

Michael Eilberg with Woodlander Farouche. Photo Kevin Sparrow

Alice Oppenheimer and Tantoni Sir Soccrates had earlier set the standard for Eilberg to beat with a score of 74.518% but eventually had to settle for second place, while Kate Cowell and Dahling took third with a score of 68.684%.

Lucy Pincus, a student on the Equine Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) provided by British Dressage and British Eventing and run exclusively at Hartpury, was also in action and she produced a fine showing on Sheepcote Don Calisto to finish just behind Cowell in fourth place after a score of 67.675%.

Sammie Gualtieri won the British Young Rider A Squad final with Emily Watts and Emily Blount finishing in second and third place respectively.