Carl Hester and Nip Tuck ©PSV Photos/FEI
By Media Release
Over the last two weeks, a bevy of British riders have battled in the heat at Barcelona’s annual CDI3* (17 – 22 Mar 2015) and CDI4* (24 – 29 Mar 2015).
Carl Hester, Hayley Watson-Greaves, Fiona Bigwood and Michael Eilberg all claimed big tour titles across the two week Spanish competition. After claiming second in the CDI3* grand prix on her own 11-year-old British-bred gelding, WG Rubins Nite with an international personal best of 68.58%, Hayley Watson-Greaves and Squeak – as Rubins Nite is fondly known – went into overdrive to produce another PB in the freestyle of 73.44%, laying their hands on their first ever international win!
Taking to her Facebook, Hayley excitedly announced: “We won the Grand Prix freestyle! With 73.5% over the moon is an understatement! My horse is amazing!”
In the qualifier for the CDI3*’s grand prix special, it was Michael Eilberg who rode to victory. Riding his father’s 15-year-old Latvian gelding, Marakov (pictured) in their first competition together since their national title win last September, the pair scored a notable 71.45% to claim the class. Making her first appearance representing GBR on international soil since 2012, Fiona Bigwood came back with a bang. Riding her own ten year old Gribaldi-sired mare, Atterupgaards Orthilia in her first ever international outing, Fiona notched up a score of 69.35% in the same grand prix class to take fourth.
Although a strong score in the qualifier, they obviously just needed time to settle in to international life as, in the grand prix special, Fiona and her Danish mare topped the class with a huge score of 74.13% – proving they’re a force to be reckoned with and an exciting combination for the future. Michael and Marakov claimed sixth with their mark of 68.44%.
Fiona and Orthilia continued their run of good form into the second week of competition. Topping their first week score, the pair notched up a mark of 74.66% to take first in the grand prix and claimed second in the GP special with 71.25%. Michael and Marakov grabbed third in the qualifier with 70.48% and fourth in the special with an improved mark of 70.27%. Anna Ross also travelled to sunny Spain for the second week of competition to score 66.60% in the grand prix special with Jane Sewell’s 14-year-old De Niro mare, Die Callas.
Dressage darling, Carl Hester made the trek to the continent for the CDI4* in the second week of competition. Riding his own and Jane de la Mare’s 11-year-old Don Ruto gelding, Nip Tuck, Carl stormed to victory in the grand prix qualifier for the freestyle with a personal best of 75.84%. Danish-born GBR rider, Henriette Andersen took third with her own and Jennifer Charlesworth’s 12-year-old Jazz gelding, Warlocks Charm on 70.34%, whilst it was Hayley and Rubins Nite who took fifth with 69.44%.
In the CDI4* freestyle, it was Carl and Nip Tuck – or as he’s known at home, Barney – who took first place once more with another PB of 78.12%. Henriette and Ted (Warlocks Charm) took fourth with 72.25% and Hayley with Squeak (WG Rubins Nite) claimed sixth on 70.95%.
For the Eilbergs, Maria and Michael, it was a successful competition on all fronts. Riding Alison Walton and Ferdi Eilberg’s nine year old British-bred mare, Woodlander Farouche in the CDI3* PSG, it was a unanimous decision for all five judges to push the pair to the top of the leaderboard. Their first international competition since their victory at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany in 2011 and 2012, it was a score of 75.68% that claimed first place for the dynamic duo. Third place went to sister, Maria Eilberg with her own, Hermione Black and Penny Pollard’s 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Royal Concert (pictured). Scoring an international personal best of 71.26%, the pair narrowly missed out on making the PSG an Eilberg 1-2 by just 0.02%. Louise Bell, who is trained by Michael Eilberg, also claimed a personal best score with her own nine year old British-bred gelding, Into the Blue. Scoring a solid 68.97%, the pair placed eighth just in front of fellow Brit, Rebecca Edwards and Margaret Cox’s 14-year-old Portuguese stallion, Ufano II who scored 68.89% for ninth.
Michael and Farouche took to the inter I like a duck to water, storming the class with an impressive 79.17% – their first attempt internationally at this level. Other international inter I newbies, Rebecca and Ufano II also did themselves proud, scoring a solid 68.40% to place sixth.
Rebecca’s second ride, Margaret Cox and Leigh Edwards 11-year-old Dimaggio gelding, Don Archie topped the table in all three young rider classes. In just their second competition as a combination, and first ever international for the bay gelding, they scored a strong 68.99% in the team test, 69.16% in the individual and a strong 73.87% in the freestyle.
By week two, Maria and Rico – as Royal Concert is known by his friends – had clearly settled into life on Spanish soil as they grabbed the top spot in the CDI4* PSG with an impressive 72.26%. Michael gave Farouche a well-deserved rest after a successful week and claimed third with Ferdi Eilberg’s nine year old De Niro stallion, Der Designer on a score of 70.65%. Rebecca and Ufano II scored 68.63% and Louise Bell took home 16th with 66.21%.
Michael’s final ride of the two week competition was with Lynne Crowden’s 13-year-old Dimaggio mare, Woodlander Dornroschen. The dynamic duo topped the leaderboard in both the CDI3* inter A and inter B with 68.79% and 72.34% respectively. In the CDI4*, the pair continued on fine form to win the inter B with 70.43%, however just missed out on the top spot in the inter A by less than 0.2% (68.69%) to Ukraine’s Inna Logutenkova with Fleraro (68.83%). Anna Ross also competed in the inter A with Renata Rabello Costa’s 12-year-old Florentine gelding, Lord of Rock. Together, they scored 63.91% to take seventh.
For full results, click here.
Source: British Dressage
