Charlotte Dujardin reigns on with seven victories in the Festival of Dressage 2018 

Sunday 8 July 2018

Spectators enjoyed incredible performances by top Olympic riders Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Fiona Bigwood on the final day of the Hartpury Festival of Dressage 2018 (Sunday 8 July).

It was another fantastic day for Olympic Gold medallist Charlotte. The dressage sensation picked up two more titles to total seven wins across five action-packed days of competition. 

Charlotte Dujardin and Mount St John Freestyle produced an exquisite test in the Baileys Horse Feeds FEI CD1 Grand Prix Special to claim her first win of the day. Their score of 80.511% put them way out in front of the competition. Carl Hester followed up with a beautiful test on Hawtins Delicato but couldn’t catch that all important top spot. Carl came in second with 77.298% followed by Henriette Anderson riding Flavio with 70.957%.

Charlotte Dujardin rode Carl Hester’s Brioso II to victory in the Fairfax Saddles, Monarch Equestrian FEI Prix St Georges with a score of 75.70%. This secured her second win of the day. Michael Eilberg riding Daltrey came in second with 70.88% and Tom Goode riding Shilo placed third with 70.44%.

The day got off to a great start with the Hickstead age classes in the International Arena. Judy Harvey riding SP Bento claimed the win in the National 5 year old class with a score of 7.66. Emily Ward Hansen and Ippolito came in second with 7.52 – just beating Judith Johnson and Ice who scored 7.50 and came in third.

Jezz Palmer rode Hercules to a win in the Hickstead National 6 year old with a great score of 8.08. The runners-up both came in with a score of 7.76, so the placing went down to collectives. Sara Gallop and BKS Fantasia just claimed the second spot with a collective of 15.6, Elder Klatzo and Dior VIII came in third with a collective of 15.5.

Elder Klatzo riding Dior VIII came first place in the Hickstead International 6 year old with a score of 7.56. Sara Gallop came in second on BKS Fantasia with 7.40 and Jade Vale placed third on Prinzessin K with 6.66.

Meanwhile, the Cavalor FEI Intermediate II got underway in the Hartpury Arena. Sadie Smith riding Keystone Dynamite won the class with a score of 70.79%. Pammy Hutton produced great tests on both of her rides and bagged the top two runner-up spots. She came in a close second on Belmondo III with 69.56% and third on Armagnac with 67.68%.

The Dawson Memorial Junior, Young Rider and Pony Team Test was next to start mid-morning in the International Arena. Sophie Morgan-Rhodda riding her own Zanthos Himself finished in the top spot with a score of 69.86%. Chloe Naylor and Karisma came in second with 68.92%, closely followed by Bridget Tate and Hawtins Werona with 68.42%.

The age classes continued inside with the British Dressage Young Pony Finals. With special placings for ponies registered with the Sport Pony Studbook Society (SPSS) and those that are British bred, it was a showcase of the pony breeding that Britain has to offer.

Alice Perry took the win in the British Dressage Young Pony Final 4 year old class riding WfD Rossini to achieve a score of 7.58. Alice and her mount also claimed best British bred and best SPSS. Runners-up were Bryony Goodwin riding RSC The Ogopogo with 7.44 and Laura Woodcock riding Bathleyhills Swift Romance with 7.20.

Jayne Turney riding Hilkins Showgirl placed first in the British Dressage Young Pony Final 5 year old class with a high score of 8.82 – that’s over a point more than second place. Jennifer Manning riding her own Chartstürmer WE came second with a score of 7.62. The combination were also the best SPSS of the class. Vikki Pengilly and Cynheidrefawr Holly placed third with 6.84 and were awarded best British bred in the class.

Olivia Wrennall and her horse Don De Luxe win the British Dressage Young Pony Final 6 year old class with a score of 7.68. The pair also won best British bred in the class. Runner-up Colina Pickles riding Tangaluna scored 7.62 and was awarded best SPSS of the class. Ashley Jenkins and BKS Daisy Duke came in third with 7.32.

The last class of the day was the Andrews Bowen FEI CDI Intermediate I Freestyle in the International Arena. Nikki Barker and Durable took the win with a score of 73.300%. Becky Moody and Eureko came second with 72.500% and Nicola Buchanan riding Half Moon Dark Magic came in third with 72.425%.

Nikki said: “The competition was so much fun. He [Durable] was such a good boy. This has been such an amazing show and Hartpury is such a brilliant venue.”

That concludes five fantastic days of dressage in the Hartpury Festival of Dressage 2018.

The Gala Evening live stream will be broadcast on the Festival of Dressage website on Saturday (14 July). Click on the ‘live stream’ tab to catch Charlotte Dujardin and Richard Davison’s winning performances as well as Tom Hunt’s music demo.

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