Charlotte Dujardin Rides Gio to Victory in Debut International Grand Prix Freestyle at Keysoe CDI3*
5 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Charlotte Dujardin Rides Gio to Victory in Debut International Grand Prix Freestyle at Keysoe CDI3*
KEYSOE, England, Oct. 10, 2020–Charlotte Dujardin rode Gio, the horse she found at a California master class four years ago, to the pair’s first victory in their debut CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle Saturday night on a score that was higher than the first musical performance by Valegro 11 years ago.
Charlotte and the nine-year-old KWPN gelding scored 83.360% for the win, a day after placing second to Charlotte and Mount St. John Freestyle in the Grand Prix. Earlier Saturday, Charlotte and Freestyle, won the Grand Prix Special (see report https://dressage-news.com/2020/10/10/charlotte-dujardin-freestyle-win-keysoe-cdi3-grand-prix-special-on-another-personal-best-score/).
Scores for Charlotte and Gio, nicknamed Pumpkin for his bright orange color, ranged from a high of 84.500% to a low of 82.125%.
The first Big Tour Freestyle result for Valegro, that Charlotte rode to 2012 Olympic team and individual gold medals and 2016 team silver and individual gold, was 79.357% in the 2011 European Championships. At the London Olympia Christmas show four months later, the pair scored 83.700% in the Freestyle. Four years after Valegro’s retirement, the records the duo set in the Freestyle, 94.300% as well as for the Grand Prix and the Special remain unbroken.
Great Britain’s Lara Butler on Rubin Al Assad was awarded 77.455% for second place and Gareth Hughes on KK Woodstock third on 76.500%.
This CDI competition was the first in Britain since suspension imposed mid-March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Gio (Apache x Tango), that Charlotte owns along with Renai Hart of New Zealand, was found by Charlotte when she was giving a master class in Los Angeles.
Amelie Kovac, who had moved to California from Europe in 2012, was a last-minute substitute. Based in Moorpark, a northern suburb of Los Angeles, she had imported Gio from the Netherlands.
Charlotte was so taken with the horse she bought Gio virtually on the spot.
Results:
CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle
Judges: E: Lars Andersson-SWE H: Raphaël Saleh-FRA C: Peter Holler-GER M: Clive Halsall-GBR B: Mats Eriksson-SWE
| Pl. | Nat. | Rider | H.No | Horse Sex / Studbook / Color / Born / Sire x Dam sire / Breeder / Owner | E | H | C | M | B | Total | |
| 1 |  GBR | 51 | GioGelding / KWPN / Chestnut / 2011 / Apache x Tango / H J De Jong, A Valk / Charlotte Dujardin, Renai Hart | 80.000 89.000 84.500 1 | 79.250 85.000 82.125 1 | 80.750 84.000 82.375 1 | 81.250 86.000 83.625 1 | 80.750 87.600 84.175 1 | 80.400 86.320 83.360 | ||
| 2 | GBR | 47 | Rubin Al AsadGelding / HANN / Bay / 2002 / Rubin Royal Old x Wanderbursch II / Hans-Hermann Wiemer, Ovelgoenne / Ursula Bechtolsheimer, Laura Tomlinson | 73.000 78.800 75.900 2 | 73.500 80.000 76.750 3 | 76.500 78.000 77.250 2 | 76.500 81.000 78.750 2 | 76.250 81.000 78.625 2 | 75.150 79.760 77.455 | ||
| 3 | GBR | 66 | Kk WoodstockGelding / BAD-WÜ / Dark Bay / 2006 / Wolkentanz II / Matthias Schönenberger / Claudine Kroll, Jessica Kroll, Martin Kroll, Gareth Hughes | 71.500 78.600 75.050 3 | 75.750 82.000 78.875 2 | 73.250 78.000 75.625 3 | 72.750 78.000 75.375 3 | 73.750 81.400 77.575 3 | 73.400 79.600 76.500 | ||
| Not placed | |||||||||||
| 4 |  IRL | 81 | SambucaMare / BE/SIES / Brown / 2009 / Samarant x Limmerick / Heike Holstein / Jake Bell, William Bell | 69.000 75.800 72.400 5 | 68.500 76.000 72.250 6 | 72.500 76.000 74.250 4 | 71.000 75.000 73.000 4 | 67.750 72.400 70.075 6 | 69.750 75.040 72.395 | ||
| 5 | GBR | 45 | Half Moon Dark MagicGelding / BHHS / Black / 2009 / Dimaggio / Julie Deverill / Nicola Buchanan | 68.500 76.800 72.650 4 | 70.000 78.000 74.000 5 | 72.250 75.000 73.625 5 | 68.500 72.000 70.250 6 | 66.500 71.400 68.950 7 | 69.150 74.640 71.895 | ||
| 6 |  GRE | 78 | RobinvaleGelding / BHHS / Bay / 2007 / Rubinero 2 x Wittinger / Pidgley, Tony & Sarah / Livanos Theodora | 67.500 73.600 70.550 6 | 70.250 78.000 74.125 4 | 65.750 66.000 65.875 9 | 69.500 73.000 71.250 5 | 71.000 78.000 74.500 4 | 68.800 73.720 71.260 | ||
| 7 |  SLO | 83 | LibertinoGelding / WESTF / Grey / 2010 / Lancer III x Cornet Obolensky / Gestut Zhaschkow / Libertino Syndicate, Mojca Usnik | 67.500 68.600 68.050 8 | 69.000 72.000 70.500 7 | 68.000 68.000 68.000 6 | 67.750 66.000 66.875 8 | 69.000 72.400 70.700 5 | 68.250 69.400 68.825 | ||
| 8 |  FIN | 37 | DacorGelding / HANN / Bay / 2009 / Dancier x Cordoba / Herbert Meyer / Mikaele Soratie | 66.500 68.000 67.250 9 | 65.250 70.000 67.625 9 | 66.500 66.000 66.250 8 | 65.250 67.000 66.125 9 | 67.500 69.200 68.350 8 | 66.200 68.040 67.120 | ||
| 9 | GBR | 50 | Saskia HitMare / OLDBG / Darkbay / 2005 / Sandro Hit x Akzent I / Liz Diegutis / Elizabeth Diegutis | 64.000 72.200 68.100 7 | 64.750 71.000 67.875 8 | 64.500 66.000 65.250 10 | 65.500 69.000 67.250 7 | 63.250 68.600 65.925 10 | 64.400 69.360 66.880 | ||
| 10 | GBR | 68 | Little RichardGelding / BHHS / Bay / 2001 / Longchamp x Davignon I / Lynne Crowden / Elder Klatzko | 63.000 66.600 64.800 10 | 63.500 68.000 65.750 10 | 67.250 67.000 67.125 7 | 63.000 65.000 64.000 10 | 64.250 68.000 66.125 9 | 64.200 66.920 65.560 | ||
