Charlotte Dujardin & Valegro Set Grand Prix World Record of 85.942% at European Championships–in Photos
11 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Charlotte Dujardin & Valegro Set Grand Prix World Record of 85.942% at European Championships–in Photos
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
HERNING, Denmark, Aug. 22, 2013–Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro rode to a new Grand Prix world record Thursday of 85.942 per cent at the European Championships Nations Cup, breaking the previous record of 84.447 per cent the double Olympic gold medal pair set at London’s Olympia on Dec. 17, 2012.
The ride by Charlotte and the 11-year-old KWPN gelding was close to flawless with 17 marks of 10 and 12 marks of 9.5 with the half-full soccer stadium almost silent except for gasps as scores were flashed on electronic ssoreboards.
Charlotte, 27, and Valegro hold the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special world records, but Edward Gal of the Netherlands and the black stallion Totilas still hold the Freestyle record.
The result was not enough for Great Britain to repeat as gold medal winners but it did insure a return trip to the medals podium. The difference of 25 percentage points over the lowest score on the team of 60.866 per cent was believed to be the biggest margin in the 20-year history of the European Championships.
Carl Hester, who rode Uthopia on the team as he did at the 2011 European Championships in Rotterdam where Britain won gold for the first time and last summer’s London Olympics and is mentor, coach and part-owner of Valegro was emotional over the performance even before the record score was known.
