Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin will be competing her double Olympic gold medalling winning mount Valegro at the 2012 World Cup Qualifier at Olympia Horse Show in London on 17 - 18 December 2012.
"My wish came true! I am riding at Olympia this year and it's on Valegro," said Dujardin, adding that she is "over the moon."
Dujardin supposedly had her last competition ride on Valegro at the Olympics in London in the summer as the horse was meant to be sold straight afterwards. Three months later, neither Valegro nor her trainer Carl Hester' horse Uthopia have been sold.
Carl will also be riding Uthopia at Olympia and if the black stallion can't make it he'll bring "a surprize horse," he told Eurodressage.
Ownership issues concerning Uthopia have halted any procedure to sell the Dutch warmblood stallion. Irish co-owner Sasha Stewart was declared bankrupt in 2010 and creditors are after Stewart to reclaim money through Uthopia. Sasha's father Derek Harrison has been working to distance his daughter from ownership of the horse. The bank has placed an injunction on Uthopia until matters are solved by lawyers from all parties involved.
Concerning Valegro, Hester told Eurodressage that he has been "trying to raise funds to keep Valegro," but the sympathetic Brit did not want to disclose more details. Valegro is owned by Roly Luard and Carl Hester.
Not the asking price but the pressure of riding such highly established winning Grand Prix horses have refrained several high profile shopping Grand Prix riders from buying these two British star horses.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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