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  • Individual bronze medal for Charlotte Dujardin and Mount St John Freestyle
  • Great Britain’s eventing team sit second going into cross-country

Dressage

Charlotte Dujardin, based in Gloucestershire, and Mount St John Freestyle have won their first Individual medal as a combination on their debut at a major championship after producing an outstanding performance, scoring 81.489% to take bronze in the Helgstrand Dressage Grand Prix Special at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina, USA.

Germany’s Isabel Werth finished top with Bella Rose, claiming her third individual gold in the Grand Prix Special at a World Equestrian Games, ahead of home favourite Laura Graves who took silver with Verdades.

All four of the British combinations qualified for today’s competition after their performances in the Grand Prix yesterday which saw Great Britain win team bronze and secure Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020.

Emile Faurie, from Oxfordshire, was the first to go with Dono di Maggio, owned by Hof Kasselmann and the pair produced a score of 70.38% after a some good highlights during their test.

Afterwards Emile said; “It wasn’t his best performance today.  He’s a massive horse and the last few days have taken a lot out of him but he really tried.  I gave him a very short warm up but he’s inexperienced; he’s a brilliant horse and he’ll be even better next year.  That’s just the way it goes sometimes.  The trip has been a great experience for him and for me, it’s been a great honour to be part of this amazing team.  Other nations are envious of the great team spirit we have.”

Spencer Wilton, based in Reading, was next to go with Super Nova II however, after yesterday’s medal ceremony Neville [Super Nova II] was not feeling 100% and after consultation with the equine sport science and medicine team and his owner, Jen Goodman, the decision was made to withdraw from the competition.

Spencer said; “I’m obviously devastated for myself and Jen as we were so looking forward to building on what we achieved in the Grand Prix. Prize givings are not Neville’s favourite thing and normally I wouldn’t do them with him but we’re at a Championship. I helped the team secure qualification for Tokyo 2020 and that’s my primary focus so with that in mind, his welfare was key to this tough decision.”

Gloucestershire’s Carl Hesterand  Hawtins Delicato, owned by Lady Anne Evans, Ann Cory and himself, were the first to go in the final session. In just their second Grand Prix Special as a pair, the duo showed no sign of nerves in the U.S Trust Arena as they followed up from their fantastic performance yesterday to produce another superb test, scoring 77.204% to finish ninth.

“I have to be happy with 77% plus in only his second Special and his first Championship, after all, he’s only a young horse,” Carl said. “I had a costly mistake in the one-time changes and in the heat and humidity the final centreline really took all his energy.  It’s only when you come to shows like this you learn about your horse and he’s also learned a lot here. I was happy with the team result as that’s what we came here to do but I’m equally happy today.”

Charlotte and Freestyle [Mount St John Freestyle] were the penultimate pairing to go and they entered the arena brimming with confidence following yesterday’s performance. Neither were unfazed by the occasion and they duly stunned the crowd with an outstanding display, scoring a personal best of 81.489% to go into second.

Isabel Werth and Bella Rose were the final combination for the day and took to the arena, showing their class to top the standings with 86.246% and take the gold for Germany, consequently pushing Charlotte down to third.

An elated Charlotte said: “I’m absolutely delighted! She’s only nine and that was just her third [Grand Prix] Special.  I knew going in I had nothing to lose and rode her every inch of the way. That feeling I had in the arena today was amazing and for me, it didn’t matter if the test won me a medal as I knew she’d given me everything.”

Both Carl and Charlotte will compete again on Sunday in the Grand Prix Freestyle.

Eventing

Today saw the first day of the Mars eventing dressage competition get underway at the Tryon Stadium arena. First into the arena for Great Britain this morning was pathfinder Gemma Tattersall, from West Sussex, with The Soul Syndicates Arctic Soul. Producing a lovely test with Spike, the duo recorded a score of 32.4 penalties to get the team off to a great start and finish the day in 19th place overnight.

Commenting afterwards Gemma said; “I’m super happy with him, he did really well! He did all the movements and I thought he had a pretty clear round. One of the changes wasn’t perfect but apart from that he was pretty spot on.

“All the horses are on good form and we feel really confident; there’s fantastic team morale. We eat together, we go to the gym together and we get on like a house on fire. We have a really good partnership and loads of experience and I am excited to get out on the course and let him gallop up that final hill.”

Gloucestershire’s Piggy French was next in for the team. Aboard Jayne McGivern’s Quarrycrest Echo, the combination produced a superb, expressive test to see a score of 27.8% awarded, which sees them into third place overnight.

A delighted Piggy said afterwards; “I am really pleased, he felt fantastic. He had one mistake at the beginning as we cantered out of the first halt and it took a while to warm-up but on the whole I am delighted; he really gave his all.”

Speaking on the cross-country course she added; “I’ve walked the course and it’s there to be jumped but it’s a Championship and there’s a different pressure to what we’re normally ride under. The course needs to be respected as there are plenty of places where you can make silly mistakes so we just need to go out there and get the job done as well as we can.”

Final rider of the day – for Britain and the first day of the eventing dressage – was Tina Cook, also based in West Sussex, with Elisabeth Murdoch and Keith Tyson’s Billy The Red, who produced a wonderful test to end the day’s competition sitting in fifth place, after a score of 29.1 penalties was confirmed.

Tina said afterwards; “He’s [Billy The Red] done some fantastic work since he’s been out here and has been on great form. I felt I could have done the changes a bit better but I’m very self-critical. I’m really pleased with him and I think there’s a lot to come. He’s only 11 and he’s what makes me enjoy the sport, keep going and be part of this amazing team that is here is with us.

Commenting on the cross-country, Tina said: “He has a fantastic record cross-country. It’s a really tough track although it is not the biggest, but it’s very hot and there’s rain so you don’t know what’s going to get thrown at you. I think it’s going to be really open and there’s going to be a lot of excitement on Saturday.”

Tomorrow sees the final day of the eventing dressage phase, with Tom McEwen, based in Gloucestershire and Ros Canter, based in Lincolnshire, getting their world championships underway.

Reining

After finishing 26th in the first individual reining qualifying yesterday, Francesca Sternberg, from Kent, came forward to contest the second individual qualifying round this afternoon, which is open to riders placed 16-35 after the first round.

Francesca, riding Rosanne Sternberg’s Spook N Sparkle, was tenth into the arena. With the eight year old palomino, Francesca produced one of her best rounds to record a new Personal Best, with a final score of 220.5. Finishing today in joint seventh place, it unfortunately means she won’t progress into Saturday’s individual final.

A beaming Francesca said; “It was Charlie’s personal best and I am so proud. I haven’t ridden this horse for two years as he’s my sisters’ horse and my niece competes him so I am extremely grateful to them for lending him.

“He’s probably one of the smallest horses here so to have to go twice in two days his little legs really had to try. His heart his size of this arena and I want to take him home to England and keep him forever!

Equestrian Team GBR is supported by the UK Sport National Lottery funded World Class Programme; the British teams are very grateful to the support they receive from the British Equestrian Federation Fund and official partners Dodson and Horrell, Equi-Trek, FALPRO England, Musto, NAF and Point Two.

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