Newlywed Lewis Carrier Wins the 2024 British Grand Prix Championships

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2024 British Dressage Championships

Lewis Carrier is the new 2024 British Grand Prix Champion. At the 2024 British Dressage Championships at Somerford Park, he won the Grand Prix class and placed second in the kur. His combined score made him the overall grand champion.

Seventeen Going for the Title

The British Nationals took place on 12 - 15 September 2024 but Britain's most prolific international Grand Prix riders (Hester, Dujardin, Fry, Faurie, etc) were all absent from this division at the event for various reasons.

Seventeen riders competed in the Grand Prix of which 13 have the British nationality and four are UK-based foreign riders. The British Nationals are an "open" championships and foreigners can become British champion as happened in 2022 when German Kathleen Kröncke won the title.

Lewis faced tough opposition though from routiniers Becky Moody, Gareth Hughes and Laura Tomlinson on less experienced Grand Prix horses. For the newlywed rider, who married his fiancée Olivia Robertson last week, the national title was the cherry on the cake of an exciting year.

Grand Prix Victory

Lewis Carrier rode Diego V (to victory in the Grand Prix Gold Championship with a score of 71.869%. The duo has been a partnership for twelve years, “we’ve been together a long long time so we know each other inside out, it really helps. I think partnerships are ones you can have for such a long time.” Lewis commented.

Lewis first competed the 16-year old KWPN bred Diego V (by Spielberg x Welt Hit II) as a six-year-old in the Elementary at the Nationals, “you see the riders back then winning the Grand Prix and you think yeah, I want to do that! So, it’s amazing to actually achieve it” Lewis reflects back on his career so far.

Speaking on the test today, “he was fresh, but he kept it together, the freshness really made his extended trots really good. He just loves the bigger atmosphere here at the Nationals, he just really loves it. Sometimes he boils over but today he kept it together and put in a really good test and I was just relieved that it was good enough to win, it’s quite surreal.”

At home Diego V is described as “pretty chilled out, he does love going to a show though, I think he could live at a show! To be honest, he’s the most relaxed and happiest at a show.”

The duo has Wellington CDI next month and keeping fingers crossed for London International again this year, “it was an amazing show last year and he did fantastically there so would really like to go there again this year” Lewis tells us.

Gareth Hughes riding the 13-year old KWPN bred Classic Goldstrike (by Tango x Krack C) claim second place with a score of 71.239% with third place going to Laura Tomlinson riding the 10-year old Danish bred Soegaards Bon Royal (by Bon Bravour x De Noir) scoring 70.630%.

Freestyle for Hughes

2022 British Grand Prix Champion Gareth Hughes returned to the top step of the podium at this year’s event, riding Julia Hornig and the Hughes family’s Classic Goldstrike to success in the Grand Prix Freestyle Championship. Their winning score was a superb 74.950%, rewarded by an outstanding British judges panel of Clive Halsall (E), Richard Baldwin (H), Peter Storr (C), Isobel Wessels (M) and Nick Burton (B).

"That's actually the first time I’ve ridden it with him," Gareth spoke about his winning freestyle programme, "it’s an old test I had years ago because the test I did at Windsor as a little bit too difficult I think I got a bit too ambitious and he got a bit confused because we don’t practice the freestyles very often. Whereas with the Grand Prix they really start to understand the lines and get really confident in it. So this was different enough to ask questions, but hopefully gave him a bit of time so he could hopefully stay with me. He just tried all the way through and every question I asked him to do he picked up and followed me.”

Overall Championship: Carrier Claims the Title

The competition for the overall title, and the British National Champion crown, was exceptionally close this year and Gareth commented on the standard of the competition: "It shows the level that we have over here. None of the team horses are here, which is understandable as it’s a big year leading up to the championships. So to have the team that we have that can go to a Championship and win medals, to then have this level nationally and the depth as well, it’s great for British dressage. And the more depth there is the more it keeps pushing forward and making the top even better.”

With his own Diego V, Lewis Carrier placed a close second place on a score of 74.850%, enough to deliver him his very first LeMieux National Champion title. Lewis' success story is truly inspiring, he has produced his horse from Young Riders to Senior Grand Prix, and now has achieved the greatest title in the BD collection.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic," he spoke about what it feels like to be National Champion, "this horse absolutely deserves it. He has been just incredible over the years; to do Young Rider European Teams , Under 25 European Teams and Nations Cup Teams at seniors, which I didn’t think he’d be able to do. And now overall National Champions, it’s absolutely surreal. You see the likes of Gareth, Carl and Laura and think I want to do that, it’s unbelievable that it can actually happen – I’m absolutely over the moon.”

The partnership between horse and rider is surely what makes this combination so successful: "We just know each other inside and out, he’s a different horse at home – he’s so chilled out, whereas here he just absolutely loves a show, he loves to show off and for the crowd he really lights up. And this is what I do it for, coming to the shows. I absolutely love competing and it’s just fantastic to have a British crowd here and enjoying dressage in the UK. Diego and I are quite similar in a way, Liv my wife tells me that!”

Lewis and Liv recently got married and enjoyed their honeymoon at Somerford Park...thankfully a beautiful trophy and a historic title make up for not being in the Maldives. “2024 has been an amazing year but also a very difficult year in the background, we’ve had a lot of change, but Diego has always been very consistent at shows and we’ve had an amazing year together. To get on the long list for the Olympics was just unbelievable. To be able to go to the Olympics and see how amazing it was out there in Paris, to hopefully set us up going forward to a Games hopefully. And then to come here and get overall National Champion is just unbelievable.”

Gareth's combined total was 146.189, a fraction behind Lewis' 146.719. Whilst Laura Tomlinson took a duo of thirds in the Grand Prix classes with Soegaards Bon Royal, completing the National Champion podium in another third place on a total of 145.23.

Scores - 2024 British Grand Prix Championships - Somerford Park

Grand Prix

1. Lewis Carrier, – Diego V - 71.869
2. Gareth Hughes, – Classic Goldstrike - 71.239
3. Laura Tomlinson, – Soegaards Bon Royal - 70.630
4. Abigail Lyle, – Farrell - 70.109
5. Nathalie Wahlund, – Gørklintgårds Scorpion - 69.870
6. Richard White, – Heroi Do Seixo - 68.413
7. Tom Goode, – Fürstenrausch PS - 66.957
8.) Alice Oppenheimer, – Headmore Bella Ruby - 66.174
9. Alice Oppenheimer, – Headmore Dionysus - 66.065
10. Alexander Harrison, – Kickback - 65.913
11. Paul Friday, – Hawtins Horatio - 65.674
12. Kathleen Kroencke, – Uniteds Maerchen - 64.870
13. Becky Moody, – James Bond - 64.631
14. Hannah Esberger-Hancock, – Iggy Pop BEK - 64.435
15. Michael Eilberg, – MSJ Dante - 63.065
16. Kimberley Siddorn, – Dutch Class - 62.870
17. Anu Sironen, – Fioretto - 62.500

Grand Prix Kur to Music

1) Gareth Hughes, – Classic Goldstrike 74.950
2) Lewis Carrier, – Diego V 74.850
3) Laura Tomlinson, – Soegaards Bon Royal 74.600
4) Richard White, – Heroi Do Seixo 73.000
5) Abigail Lyle, – Farrell 72.275
6) Paul Friday, – Hawtins Horatio 69.900
7) Alice Oppenheimer, – Headmore Dionysus 69.275
8) Alice Oppenheimer, – Headmore Bella Ruby 69.175
9) Tom Goode, – Fürstenrausch PS 69.025
Nathalie Wahlund, – Gørklintgårds Scorpion RET

2024 British Grand Prix championship - Overall Ranking

1 Lewis Carrier - Diego V - 71.869 74.85 --- 146.719
2 Gareth Hughes - Classic Goldstrike - 71.239 74.95 --- 146.189
3 Laura Tomlinson - Soegaards Bon Royal - 70.63 74.6 --- 145.23
4 Richard White - Heroi Do Seixo - 70.109 73.0 --- 143.109
5 Tom Goode - Fürstenrausch PS - 69.87 69.175 --- 139.045
6 Paul Friday - Hawtins Horatio - 66.065 72.275 --- 138.34
7 Alice Oppenheimer - Headmore Bella Ruby - 68.413 69.275 --- 137.688
8 Alice Oppenheimer - Headmore Dionysus - 66.957 69.9 --- 136.857