Charlotte Dujardin and Amy Woodhead grabbed the first national titles at FEI level at the 2021 British Dressage Championships, which are hosted for the first time at Somerford Park on 16 September 2021.
Dujardin Takes Prix St Georges Title
The feature class on day one at the British National Championships, the Fairfax Saddles Prix St Georges, saw Charlotte Dujardin take centre stage fresh from her return from two immensely successful major championships in a packed summer programme for British Dressage’s leading lady.
On board Carl Hester and Coral Ingham’s eye-catching chestnut Imhotep, Charlotte produced a stellar test piloting the eight year old to 77.81%, impressing the judges panel of Andrea Smith, Leanne Wall, Anne Keen, Clive Halsall, Jo Graham. “Pete”, a Dutch bred gelding by the Van Olst’s Olympic and European medallist Everdale, showed his potential in front of a sunbathed Somerford audience with Charlotte now at the helm, having previously been campaigned by Hester stable jockey Sadie Smith.
After spending her summer gathering airmiles, medals and history making results, Charlotte spoke about her team effort turnaround to make it to the Nationals, “we got home, turned around and off with the next lot…packing, unpacking, washing and doing all of that, that’s all we’ve done! I’ve ridden him for three days, luckily Sadie Smith and the girls at home have kept him ticking along for me at home so he stayed fit. We’ve had three days to prepare to come here, try and think of some music to use…standard that I do!”
“I’m really really happy with him,” she continued on switching her focus from Pumpkin to Pete, “I’ve only been back three days so I’ve had three days to prepare. He’s not been out since Hartpury Premier League so very happy, we didn’t do an arena walk just went straight in there.
“I was pleased with it all, he’s not done a great deal – a few Premier Leagues this year – but he takes everything in his stride.” Charlotte spoke enthusiastically about her latest champion and his bright future in the sport: “He’s absolutely incredible to ride, he’s like the bounciest, springiest horse I’ve ever ridden. He feels like he’s on springs, the Grand Prix stuff is all there and I’m excited to hopefully have him for the Big Tour next year. He’s so good in the arena, I can’t really ask for much more from him.” Carl Hester, co-owner of the powerful talent, has also been tipped for a spot in the saddle; “Carl says he gets as much pleasure watching,” Charlotte continued whilst explaining that Carl has the option to take the ride if he’d like to.
No stranger to National Championship success Charlotte praised the new look and feel for the return of the biggest Championship in the British Dressage calendar, “It’s amazing! It’s a better set up all-round, we’ve got proper warm ups, proper training facilities, they’ve used the space well and it’s brilliant, really really good.”
Woodhead Wins Intermediaire II Title
The Intermediaire II class was a close fought battle between two chestnut mares with Amy Woodhead and Emma Blundell’s talented Mount St John Kom Fairytale (71.86%) winning by a whisker ahead of Anna Ross and the lovely Newton Domino on 71.81%. Third spot on the podium belonged to Lewis Carrier and Diego V, fresh from the FEI U25 European Championships in Hagen. Hot on the heels of top two, they scored a super 70.73%.
Amy and Mount St John Kom Fairytale impressed the judging panel of Peter Storr, David Trott, Claire Ballantyne, Sophie Dickinson and Harry Payne, giving them the winning edge to lift the 2021 title in style.
"It was really good, she was really with me and I'd say that it's one of our better tests that we've done,” said a delighted Amy. “There's still room for improvement as there always is for dressage, but I was really pleased with her - there weren't any major mistakes. I haven't even done an arena walk with her. It felt nice and easy, and apparently it was really easy to watch!"
About her partnership with Fairytale, she says, "I got the ride on her at the beginning of last year, my first show was Myerscough Premier League and then due to Covid we went straight to the Grand Prix championships at the end of the year! This has been our first full season so we've had to iron out a few things. The majority of our shows had been indoor so we came outdoors and I learnt a bit more about her. Usually as the show goes on she gains even more confidence but she came out today and was really good.
"The shows fit in with what we're doing at home, we compete once a week or every other week,” says Amy about her preparation and training routine. “We try our best to prepare the horses as best as we can with plenty of variety of work"
This will be a busy week for Amy but it couldn’t have got off to a better start for the young rider from Grimsby. "Not including people I teach, within the team we have 12 horses here! Today I actually started riding at 7am and she [Fairytale] was my last ride of the day. We've got everything from four year olds to Grand Prix. And Jenny who rides for me, it's her first Nationals season and she's qualified five which I'm super proud of. Emma has VIP and I'm on a few as well...it's looking pretty busy!"
"I love it!" Amy concluded about finally being able to return to the Nationals, "I love the venue, I always enjoyed going to Stoneleigh but here we can hack out, we've got grazing for them and it's a really beautiful venue, AND the sun is shining!"
Results - 2021 British Dressage Championships
Prix St Georges (top 20 only)
- 1. Charlotte Dujardin - Imhotep - 77.816 %
- 2. Becky Moody - Jagerbomb - 74.711 %
- 3. Andrew Gould - Genie - 74.158 %
- 4. Lucinda Elliot - Hawtins Duchessa - 72.974 %
- 5. Alice Oppenheimer - Headmore Dionysus - 72.289 %
- 6. Gareth Hughes - Happiness - 71.711 %
- 7. Eilidh Grant - mount st John Doornroos - 71.658 %
- 8. Lucinda Elliot - Hawtins Soave - 71.579 %
- 9. Emma Blundell - Mount St John VIP - 71.474 %
- 10. Michael Eilberg - MSJ Dante VX - 71.132 %
- 11. Daniel Sherriff - I’m Bayford Hall Incognito - 70.947 %
- 12. Caitlin Burgess - Chocotof - 70.605 %
- 13. Dylan Deutrom - San-Marco - 70.447 %
- 14. Lucinda Elliot - Hawtins Bellegra - 70.342 %
- 15. Henry Boswell - Folt - 70.053 %
- 16. Matt Frost - Helga - 69.684 %
- 17. Nikolas Kroencke - Flanell - 69.474 %
- 18. Andrew Gould - Rockwood Virtue - 69.421 %
- 19. Jennifer Martell - Fiderstan - 69.263 %
- 20. Sara-Jane Lanning - Sigurd - 69.237 %
Intermediaire II (top 20 only)
- 1. Amy Woodhead - Mount St John Fairytale - 71.868 %
- 2. Anna Ross - Newton Domino - 71.816 %
- 3. Lewis Carrier - Diego V - 70.737 %
- 4. Amy Woodhead - Mount St John Valencia - 70.5 %
- 5. Abigail Lyle - Giraldo - 70.237 %
- 6. Abigail Lyle - Farrell - 69.105 %
- 7. Jess Bennett - JB Dukaat - 68.184 %
- 8. Robyn Smith - Francesco - 67.711 %
- 9. Amy Stovold - Bobo L - 67.526 %
- 10. Anne Marie Bork Eppers - Zeilinger Firfod - 67.211 %
- 11. Dannie Morgan - Southern Cross Braemar - 67.105 %
- 12. Mette Dahl - Sir Donato - 66.737 %
- 13. Nathalie Kayal - Homerun - 66.737 %
- 14. Ruth Hole - Easy VZ - 66.474 %
- 15. Dylan Deutrom - Sunlit Uplands - 66.132 %
- 16. Eilidh Grant - Eranda Retto - 65.316 %
- 17. Paul Friday - Romanno Rafiel - 64.868 %
- 18. Kimberley-Alice Seaby - Dutch class - 64.842 %
- 19. Megan Ingham - Piemonte K - 64.026 %
- 20. Tamsin Vaughan - Casse-cou - 62.263 %
Related Links
British Dressage Championships Move from Stoneleigh to Somerford for 2020-2022
Organising Three Championships in Two Weeks at Anna Ross’s Elite Dressage sales stables in the UK